North Penn rallies past Conestoga to reach District 1-4A final

FRANCONIA >> It was more desperation than dazzle, but what mattered was that with the North Penn boys soccer team trailing Conestoga in the second half, Carter Houlihan came through for the Knights.

“There was probably a couple whiffs in there,” the North Penn senior said. “It was a slick ball. But I think I missed the ball and then they missed the ball and then it fell right to me and I buried it.”

Running down a ball played forward in the air by Ryan Stewart, Houlihan chested the ball down and with a pair of Pioneer defenders draped on him, could not connect on his first shot attempt. But spinning around after the miss, Houlihan found himself free and the ball at the his feet. And this time, he sent a shot into the right corner of the net, tying the District 1-4A semifinal 2-2 with 14:20 remaining in regulation.

“He’s a pretty incredible player,” North Penn coach Paul Duddy said. “We all know at this point.”

Just 64 seconds later, Stewart put the Knights ahead for good, volleying the ball inside the right post after a free kick and top-seeded North Penn held on to reach the district final with a 3-2 victory over No. 5 Conestoga Tuesday night at Souderton Area High School.

“We’re not going to stop fighting,” Stewart said. “It could be 1-0 them, 5-0 us, no matter what the score is we’re just going to keep fighting, we’re going to go for the win.”

Jamie Stewart scored the first goal for the Knights (20-1-0), who won their 17th straight game to advance and face No. 3 Boyertown — which topped No. 2 Lower Merion 1-0 in overtime — in Saturday’s title game 6 p.m. at Spring-Ford.

“I think we’re going to be buzzing off this win, bring the momentum forward and win North Penn’s first district championship,” Houlihan said.

Conestoga (15-4-2) pulled even 1-1 on Elijah Brown’s strike with just 7.9 seconds remaining before halftime with the Pioneers grabbing a 2-1 lead on Jacob Albertson’s goal at 27:43 in the second half. But North Penn’s rally denied ‘Stoga a fourth district final appearance in five seasons with the Pioneers instead visiting Central League rival Lower Merion in the third-place match 3 p.m. Friday.

“We juggled some things around and moved Josh (Jones) up top for some and being behind made us scramble some,” Duddy said. “But they are a very quick team I thought, all over the field they just move.”

After Houlihan’s tying strike, North Penn continued its pressure for the go-ahead goal and got it shortly after when the Knights earned a free kick in the midfield.

“We had that momentum,” Ryan Stewart said. “After we got that goal, you could tell, we were all just pushing for it, we wanted that third goal so bad. And it kind of set Conestoga on their heals and we were just going at them.”

Jamie Stewart send the restart into the 18-yard box with a Jones header lofting it to Ryan Stewart on the other side of the box. Ryan Stewart controlled the ball with his chest and after one bounce on the ground, ripped a shot inside the near right post at 13:16.

“I saw that header by Josh, I trust my shot,” Ryan Stewart said. “I knew if I could get it on target it was going in.”

Ryan Stewart had two chances to extend the lead but send his first shot wide left then put the second opportunity off a Houlihan pass over the crossbar.

Looking for an equalizer late, Conestoga had a pair of throw-ins bounce around in the box — the first tapped into diving NP keeper Sawyer Meade in a crowd before the Knights cleared, the second having a shot attempt by Colin Wurth blocked. The Pioneers earned a corner kick in the final minute but after playing it short then sending it in the box they were called offsides.

“It shows the heart and resilience that we have,” Houlihan said. “From being down 2-1 and burying two goals one after another, shows how much work has gone in this.”

North Penn took a 1-0 lead at 28:37 in the first half as Jamie Stewart got up and headed a ball in off a corner kick taken by Ryan Stewart.

“We knew that they were going to get on Josh and maybe double or triple him,” Ryan Stewart said. “So we talked about at the beginning that first corner was going to go to the near post as Josh ran away from it. That way we could get that early goal, catch them on their heels.”

The Knights were poised to go into the break with the lead only to see the Pioneers make it 1-1 with 7.9 seconds left in the half. Nate Xu sloted a pass between the NP backline to Brown, who tapped a shot past an outcoming Meade and into the lower left corner.

“We definitely could of prevented the goal,” Houlihan said. “It was a great run by their striker who by the way had a phenomenal game. But it was pretty crushing, going into halftime we kind of just had to forget about it and move forward.”

The Pioneers went ahead 2-1 at 27:43 in the second half when Meade went down after he and Xu both went up for a ball in the box. No foul was called and the ball dropped to Javier Coll, who passed to Albertson for a tap-in into the wide-open goal.

“They kept pressure on us in front of that goal and they’re known for that,” Duddy said. “They’ll run on the corner kicks and their big throw-ins and then just get a number of guys in there and they’re good at it. And they make good runs and things like that. They’re a good team, so it’s a credit to this group of guys that still manage to pull it out.”

Meade came up with a crucial save to keep ‘Stoga for going up two goals, denying a Brown breakaway with his feet then jumping on the rebound.

“Sawyer had a great save on the one breakaway and I think if that went in, it would have been a different ending,” Houlihan said.

With the margin still 2-1, Houlihan’s effort battling through defenders knotting things up at 14:20 and just 1:04 later Ryan Stewart provided the go-ahead tally.

“There’s been a couple game where we’ve gone down and we’ve always come out top at the end of that,” Houlihan said. “So we thought I’d be a replay of those games. I think those games were good practice games to learn what we would do if we’re down a goal. And we stay composed and it showed on the field.”