North Penn boys, girls each earn wins over Pennridge

TOWAMENCIN >> For the North Penn boys and girls water polo teams, who lost several players to graduation, it’s about trying to find a new identity.

And they continued to build a pretty good one Tuesday evening.

“The majority of our seniors last year were the bulk of our team,” Knights coach Jason Grubb said of the boys and girls squads, both defending State Champs. “The kids are doing well. It’s only our second game of the season so it’s been a lot of practicing. When we get in the games, we’re trying to clean up some stuff.

“It’s nice to get another team in here, get our league games in. And come out with a win, it’s nice.”

The North Penn girls won 14-7 and the boys followed with a 17-6 victory, each raising their unbeaten record to 2-0.

The North Penn girls came out with a tremendous first quarter, bolting to a 5-1 lead. A goal by Madeline Voss helped extend the margin to 6-1 early in the second quarter.

The Knights led 7-3 at the half and continued to generate a tremendous amount of offensive pressure.

Voss (three), Katelyn Harkrader (two), Claudia Thamm (two), Koerper (two) and Daly (two) all had multiple-goal games in a balanced, cohesive attack.

Later in the evening, the NP boys built a 7-2 lead by the second quarter, as sophomore Sage Trautz and junior A.J. Patterson were each on their way to a hat trick.

Looking strong in their Suburban One League opener builds confidence for the young North Penn squads, with tournament play fast approaching.

“We’re gonna see where we’re at,” Grubb said. “We’re hosting a tournament here (on Sept. 22) that has Wilson and Cumberland Valley coming in, and then we have Beast of the East in a couple weeks. So we’re gonna have some tough tasks coming up.”

Pennridge, making postseason play a habit the past couple years, received outstanding play from Megan Weiss and Emily Eckelmeyer in the girls (2-1) contest while the boys (1-1) made a sizeable push in the second quarter of their matchup.

“We’ve had a really great start to the season,” Rams boys coach Dave Apple said. “The guys came out strong, worked real hard for the first three weeks of the season, and I’m real happy with their effort.”