Work pays off as North Penn tops Upper Dublin
UPPER DUBLIN >> It hadn’t shown up in the win column, but the North Penn girls soccer team knew it was getting close to something.
The Knights, now halfway through their first season with coach Steve Whitby, have embraced their new system and have been hounding teams all season. Despite winning just three of their first 10 matches, the Knights gave everyone they played a tough time.
Friday afternoon, they got their breakthrough. A dream start coupled with a penalty kick in the waning moments handed North Penn a 3-2 win over previously unbeaten Upper Dublin.
“I think it’s really big for us and it’s going to help turn our season around,” Knights junior Amelia Eshraghi said. “We can use the momentum from this game, translate into our upcoming games and hopefully get some more results.”
GIRLS SOCCER 79′ 2nd half: North Penn 3, Upper Dublin 2
Emma Dickson scores the PK pic.twitter.com/yC5pG2wXt5— Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3) September 29, 2017
The call that led to the penalty kick was disputable, but Cardinals coach John Topper told his team that it wouldn’t have mattered if it had taken care of things in the first five minutes. North Penn (4-6-1, 1-4-1 Suburban One League Continental) came out flying, pressuring UD and using its speed on the flanks and up top to score on its first two shots.
An Upper Dublin (8-1-1, 7-0-0 SOL American) turnover in the midfield led to a quick Knights turnaround, with Grace Sacchetti getting the ball on the right side and playing it in, where forward Tia Sheehy tapped it inside the near post in the second minute. Two minutes later, the Knights again went wide, this time to the left with Olivia Urban whipping a cross to Eshraghi at the far post for another poke-in goal.
“Give credit to North Penn, we committed the cardinal sin of giving them time to receive the ball in a dangerous area of the field and they executed twice,” Topper said. “They’ve got some strong attackers, but I don’t think we came out with the right mindset and we paid the price.”
For North Penn, life in the SOL Continental is not an easy one for a program looking to reshape its image. But the Knights felt like they were competitive in almost every match they’ve played, taking Souderton to overtime, drawing with Central Bucks East and making Pennridge gut out a 2-0 win on Thursday.
Whitby conceded the difficulty of his team’s schedule and said his team felt a bit “smothered” in the first half of the year, but Friday’s win should let his players start breathing.
“All I can ask them to do is buy into the system and work hard,” Whitby said. “And they certainly did that. I’m proud of them.”
Upper Dublin was able to get itself back into the game, with fullback Katie King making a crucial clear off the line to prevent a third goal as the Cardinals started to connect. While UD trailed 2-0 at the break, the Cardinals had adjusted well on the fly and had created some quality opportunities.
Nine minutes into the second half, they broke through by following North Penn’s example of attacking from the outside. Center mid Tina Haig picked up the ball in the middle of the field then played a long diagonal ball to senior Tori Hoffner down the left flank.
Hoffner was able use her space well and slotted a shot on the ground to the far post to cut the lead in half. Three minutes later, Hoffner doubled her tally when senior Erin O’Brien crossed the ball off the right wing to Hoffner on the left, where she again slotted the ball in along the ground.
“Credit to our girls, they adjusted on the fly and the game tightened up,” Topper said. “But the message is still you can’t come out like that and expect to beat a good team.”
The Knights faced a tipping point in the match and Whitby said it felt like they were down after UD tied it, but the players on the field managed to stabilize themselves and get back into the game.
“We knew we had to win and once they scored those two goals, we didn’t want to get down on ourselves,” Eshraghi said. “We knew we just had to keep working hard until we could put another one in and luckily, we got that PK right at the end.
“It’s a big deal having that response, working well together and growing up together.”
Whitby also credited the leadership of junior keeper Ashley Schmidt, who made seven saves in the contest.
The decisive call came with about 90 seconds left in the game, after a North Penn shot in the box struck an Upper Dublin player. A whistle from the nearest official for a hand ball awarded the Knights a penalty kick, with Emma Dickson stepping to the spot and driving it past UD’s Devon Jones for the winner.
Eshraghi said it was big moment and she was happy to see the junior deliver under pressure. North Penn is hoping Friday’s win propels them to a big second half, with the schedule setting up for them to build up some steam.
“We talked this morning about four in a row, and this had to be the first,” Whitby said. “We have some teams next week I think we can play with and match up with. It’s just a matter of continuing to believe in the system and ourselves and keep pressing forward.”
Upper Dublin, which is still undefeated in the SOL American, has three conference games next week and Topper feels his team will be able to positively respond from the setback. The Cardinals have good senior leaders and a number of underclassmen who are multi-year starters.
“It brings us back down to earth a little bit,” Topper said. “Winning’s fun, but we have a lot of good teams left on our schedule and this may be a little bit humbling for the girls. I’m counting on us coming out strong next week and not giving away opportunities like we did today.”
NORTH PENN 3, UPPER DUBLIN 2
NORTH PENN 2 1 – 3
UPPER DUBLIN 0 2 – 2
Goals: NP – Tia Sheehy (Grace Sachetti) 2’, Amelia Eshraghi (Olivia Urban) 4’, Emma Dickson (PK) 78’; UD – Tori Hoffner (Tina Haig) 49’, Hoffner (Erin O’Brien) 52’. Shots: NP – 7, UD – 9. Corners: NP – 2, UD – 5. Saves: NP – Ashley Schmidt 7, UD – Devon Jones 3.
