La Salle, North Penn prove resolve in draw

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TOWAMENCIN >> His team down two goals and with a bit more than 10 minutes left, La Salle senior Gio Randazzo knew there was still time to make something happen.

Randazzo scored just after North Penn put away its third goal, kicking off a stirring comeback that showed the Explorers’ resolve in a situation they hadn’t faced much all season. While the Knights lost their lead, they showed their resolve as well, playing the final 25 minutes of the match down a man but never conceding the game-winner.

It took 100 minutes with almost too many twists and turns, but La Salle and North Penn played to a fitting, and by all accounts, deserved 3-3 draw Saturday morning at North Penn.

“We started off slow and that’s what got us into that deficit, but in the second half we started play with passion,” Randazzo said. “We were getting into tackles, we were being aggressive. We wanted the goals bad and we didn’t want to lose to them.”

As expected with two quality sides matching up, the teams clashed style and tempo in a physical and intense contest. Both teams were frustrated not only by the fact they couldn’t find a winner, but also by a number of calls that were made and also those that weren’t.

Maintaining composure became paramount on each side. It was especially so for North Penn after midfielder Jack Johnston was shown a second yellow card for what the official deemed a delay of game with 5:41 left in the second half, putting the Knights down to 10 men.

The Knights gave up the equalizer  with four minutes to play, but otherwise held firm despite the disadvantage.

“Sometimes you tie a game and feel like it should have been a win and sometimes you tie a game and feel like you’re lucky it wasn’t a loss,” Knights coach Paul Duddy said. “Today felt like a tie. We were at a disadvantage but out guys still played just as hard.”

Aiden Jerome started the scoring when he put North Penn on the board in the ninth minute. A service by Jamie Stewart off the left flank found McMahon in the box, with the senior flicking it off his head to Jerome on the far post for the tap-in.

La Salle got back into it 10 minutes later when Randazzo’s free kick found Sean McCallum for a header. Knights keeper Joey Lindsay appeared to stumble on the play and had to exit the game for a few minutes to get his leg looked at.

It was a gutsy effort for the senior keeper, who finished with seven saves including a crucial denial of Randazzo in the first overtime. Lindsay didn’t finish the game after picking up another injury after stopping two consecutive Explorer shots in the second overtime. Backup keeper Jake Millevoi didn’t finish with a save, but made three key plays by coming off his line to punch away La Salle serves into the box.

“That’s a tough spot to be in,” Duddy said. “(Millevoi) doesn’t get a lot of minutes but he came in and really helped us out today. They both played very well.”

North Penn re-gained the lead with 3:33 left in the first half thanks to a superb goal from super-sub Mike Chaffee. The sophomore managed to weave his way through the left side of La Salle’s defense then after getting 1-v-1 with Explorers keeper Brett Werner, beat the standout senior with a well-taken effort.

Chaffee was one of a long list of players who thrived off North Penn’s bench along with Millevoi, Ethan Torri, Matt Murphy, Ryan Stewart and Alieu Sheriff.

“We were working hard, we were just frustrated we couldn’t win,” Chaffee said. “We were glad we could hold on in overtime. This type of game will help our confidence going into the playoffs. I wanted to get going down the outside, get them with some pace in the back and see if we could get through and get some goals.”

Sheriff, who came on as part of a double-substitution after an injury and Johnston’s first yellow card, scored to put North Penn up 3-1 with 10:51 left in the game. The senior was waiting at the far post on a corner kick, where the ball came to him and he was able to knock it past Werner.

The North Penn-La Salle game has become a fixture in the teams’ regular season schedules and by putting it late in the season, it gave Explorers coach Tom McCaffrey the chance to expose his players to top-caliber competition right before the Philadelphia Catholic League playoffs. With his team down two goals, it was a gut-check moment for the Explorers, who harbor dreams of a long postseason run.

“Our guys continued to do what they do and these guys like to talk about just grinding after things and staying on top of it,” McCaffrey said. “Once we got that second goal in, the wind came back in our sails and it was just that belief to find that second one turned out to be what we needed. That’s the good thing about this crew, they do believe in each other and they do the work and that second goal was a result of them trying to stay after it.”

Off the restart, La Salle went right at North Penn and it was Randazzo who provided a beautiful finish into the top of the net with 10:16 left, turning the tables back in La Salle’s favor.

“I knew we needed a goal soon to get us back in the game,” Randazzo said. “We needed that to pick us back up because we seemed pretty down after that corner. It was incredible how much passion came out of the guys, it was like it just clicked and everyone wanted it so bad. We put some fire in our hearts and played great.”

La Salle tied the game with 4:09 left after a corner kick service came out to Chris Lenge outside the box. With space around him, the midfielder snaked a shot back in that managed to just beat a diving Lindsay and crossed the goal line before the keeper could put hands on the ball.

Both teams had chances over the remaining 24 minutes, with North Penn’s Luke McMahon heading a chance wide and Chaffee forcing Werner into a tough save in the second OT. Randazzo, McCallum and Max Mocharnuk had quality looks for La Salle.

The Explorers are off until Friday when they host either Lansdale Catholic or Archbishop Carroll in a PCL quarterfinal while North Penn has two games left as it tries to capture the Suburban One League Continental title and a top-five seed for the District 1-4A tournament.

Saturday though, it was just two teams leaving it all on the field and both of them left hoping to get another chance at it in the state tournament.

“It shows we can handle anyone,” Chaffee said. “We should keep our confidence high and go into every game knowing we can win but we also have to play hard.”

“This is a great team to play because this is the type of team we’re going to see all through the playoffs,” Randazzo said. “They’re a top-level team. The fact we were down and came back, it’s a positive result, but we wanted a win so bad.”

LA SALLE 3, NORTH PENN 3
LA SALLE 1 2 0 0 – 3
NORTH PENN 2 1 0 0 – 3
Goals: L – Sean McCallum, Gio Randazzo, Chris Lenge; NP – Aiden Jerome, Mike Chaffee, Alieu Sheriff. Shots: L – 8, NP – 4. Saves: L – Brett Werner 4; NP – Joey Lindsay 7. Corner kicks: L – 9; NP – 3.

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Andrew Robinson

Andrew Robinson
Montgomery Media/Lansdale Reporter sports writer.

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