North Penn edges CB West in playoff-like match

TOWAMENCIN >> As North Penn and Central Bucks West gathered after spilling everything they had on the pitch for the last 80 minutes, both teams’ coaches said the same thing.

The Knights and Bucks hadn’t just competed in a soccer match, they had just finished a playoff game. Under the lights, with an involved student section and two teams very much wanting the three points on the line, it felt like a District 1 postseason affair.

It was also a night where Luke McMahon wasn’t going to run out of gas.

The striker’s hustle helped set up the breakthrough goal as Carter Houlihan put one away to send the Knights to a 1-0 win and a share of the lead in the Suburban One League Continental Conference Wednesday night.

“Yesterday day during practice, our coaches each gave us a very inspiring speech and it changed our mentality for the rest of the season,” Houlihan said. “We came out strong and wanted to play until we had nothing else to give.”

The game was a textbook rivalry matchup. It was physical, it got chippy at times, each team generated chances, every ball was contested and it wasn’t decided until the final horn. West had edged North Penn 2-1 in overtime back in early September and with the Knights coming off a 1-0 loss on Monday at Central Bucks East, who they know share the Continental lead with, they were ready for the second round.

North Penn (10-2-0, 6-2-0 conference) needed and got big nights from its main guys like Houlihan, McMahon and Jack Johnston, but every player who stepped on the pitch added something with the reserves, including Brett Katz and Ricky Brophy, keeping the fight strong. The Bucks (8-4-0, 5-3-0) were just as good, with standout keeper Dylan Smith denying the Knights at every turn and defenders like CJ Lang and Nick Centenera going toe-to-toe with Houlihan and McMahon.

“It’s a between-the-lines behavior kind of game,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “It’s chippy, they both want to win more than anything, there’s a lot of desire and a lot of passion on the field. But when the game’s done, they get it. There’s sportsmanship exemplified by both sides and they understand that.”

Szygiel was extremely proud of his team’s effort and liked the way his players were willing to match North Penn’s aggression and intensity after the opening 15 minutes, where the Knights came out buzzing. The Bucks did lose their dynamic midfield leader Tarin Morris to a first-half injury after colliding with a Knights defender going for a header, but the next guys in stepped up.

In recent years, the Bucks have given North Penn terrific matches and Szygiel said Wednesday felt like one of those one-goal, best chance wins it kind of games.

“I think we’re close, I think we’re right there with them,” Szygiel said. “I think earlier in the year, we might have been a little lucky to pull a result off of them. But, I have full confidence in my guys and how we played this game and they should to. This was a District playoff environment and we very well could see them again.”

The Knights knew they had their work cut out for them trying to score on Smith. McMahon said the Knights didn’t want to have their first losing streak of the season and knowing they’d have a student section backing them, wanted to take it right to the Bucks.

“I wanted to come in with a lot of firepower, especially with what happened the first game,” McMahon said. “We knew with the power rankings shaping up and districts coming up, we have to build a profile for ourselves. In preseason, everybody had been saying this would be a rebuilding season for us and we decided it wasn’t going to be.”

McMahon was especially dangerous, forcing Smith into three saves and putting three more chances tantalizingly close to the frame. His energy and workrate, which never seem to waiver, made sure the Knights would keep getting chances.

“He’s a great high school player,” Szygiel said. “His pace, his energy, his desire to run at players and run down balls is excellent. He’s going to probably get a few looks, sometimes we have to hope he misses those looks. We know he’s going to get chances, Carter’s going to get chances and their next five or six players are just such solid players.”

Fittingly, it was McMahon hounding the West back line that led to the score.

“It was a second chance, I got the ball and tried to play it through, it didn’t happen but it came right back to my feet,” McMahon said. “I saw Carter making a little run through, I played him in and he slotted it away.”

The ball was between Smith and Houlihan, but the Knights sophomore channeled his inner McMahon and got there first.

“I had to get to the ball before he did,” Houlihan said. “Luke put in a great ball and I had to bury it and get the goal.”

North Penn played some beautiful soccer at times, pinging the ball through the midfield, giving-and-going, switching and pursuing passes. CB West did the same for spells and also put the Knights under pressure with more direct play when it benefited with Reed Sturza, Alan Zlotin and Steven Knabe among others creating chances.

As he watched both teams put it all on the line, North Penn coach Paul Duddy couldn’t help but be a fan of the game even as he tried to guide his players to a win.

“I do enjoy it, and I give as much credit to the other team,” Duddy said. “I say stuff to guys on the bench, like ‘that’s a great serve,’ or point out a great defensive play. We had a couple times where I thought we were in behind them and their defenders just came up and you have to give them credit. I do enjoy that moment. It’s good high school soccer.”

West refused to go home quietly and nearly found the equalizer in the last minute of play. Lang, pressed up as an attacker, headed a service toward the North Penn goal with 40 seconds left.

Knights keeper Joey Lindsay made a fantastic save, leaping up and using his fingertips to push the shot over the crossbar, giving up a corner but preserving his clean sheet.

“What a great save by Joey on that,” Duddy said. “He just got a hand on it, we’re just holding our breath, he hit it and it was ticketed (for the back of the net) but Joey got a hand on it and bailed us out.”

Both teams turn right around and go back it Friday, with North Penn facing William Tennent and the Bucks battling district rival Central Bucks South.

For the Knights, who want to repeat as Continental champions, every game is of the utmost importance right now.

“It’s huge for us, it was the toughest game we’ve had this season,” Houlihan said. “This game can define the rest of our season and put us in the driver’s seat for the remainder of it. We know that and now it’s on us to come out in every other game as hard as we did tonight.”

NORTH PENN 1, CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0
NORTH PENN 0 1 – 1
CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 0 0 – 0
Goals: NP – Carter Houlihan (Luke McMahon). Shots: NP – 8, CBW – 5. Saves: NP – Joey Lindsay 5, CBW – Dylan Smith 7. Corners: NP – 2, CBW – 2.