North Penn’s defense leads to offense in win over Souderton

TOWAMENCIN >> Get a stop, score a goal.

Trailing at halftime against visiting Souderton with first place in the SOL National on the line, the North Penn girls lacrosse team needed to pick things up. After allowing four straight goals to end the first half, the Knights’ defense knew it was on them to turn the tide and get the offense going again.

A second half surge gave North Penn what it needed and the defense made a couple more stops late to pick up an 11-9 win over Souderton on Monday.

“I feel like our defense really put a good show on,” Knights (5-2, 4-0 SOL National) goalie Kiera Holt said. “We talked a lot and this game, we all got together and used each other. It was just a great game all around.”

Holt was busy on Monday, but the sophomore was also rock-solid between the posts making 11 saves. Adding three ground balls to her line, Holt stood firm as the last line of defense and had a particular knack for denying Souderton’s (5-2, 3-1 SOL National) eight-meter tries in the second half.

She had plenty of help too from defenders Danielle Preston, Hannah Malilitz and Laynie Doran and hard-working midfielders including Alli Lindsay, Emily Varilla and Kayla Stressman. North Penn coach Heather Mellow felt it was a drastic improvement from the unit after halftime but gave a lot of props to Holt for her performance all game.

“She made a lot of huge saves for us and kept us in this game,” Mellow said. “She came up huge and the defense did a good job of communicating because in the first half, it felt like it was silent. They really understood what (Souderton’s) offense was trying to do and disrupted their play.”

North Penn got off to a good start, taking a 2-0 lead before Souderton tied it up 2-2. The Knights would respond with three straight scores, with Varilla putting her team back up and Lindsay and Jordan Baily adding on with 11:41 left in the half.

The Knights took a timeout right after, but the stoppage seemed to help Souderton. Lauren Hallman scored on an eight-meter, kicking off a four-goal run to the intermission by the visitors.

Isabel John, who led Souderton with three goals, stole momentum for her team when she pressured Holt behind the net following a save and forced an errant pass that Avery Farina picked off and scored. That got Souderton going, with John then scoring off a transition and Reiley Knize scoring in the final minute for a 6-5 lead.

Stressman, who had a strong second half, said her team came together at the break.

“We just wanted to win more than ever and that really helped us,” Stressman said. “We started to cover their cutters very well. We got turnovers when they dropped it and did a good job stopping the ball. It was a result of our communication.”

A defensive stop got Riley O’Donnell going in transition and the North Penn freshman took it herself to tie the game 53 seconds into the second half. Souderton, which played good defense in the first half, also got some big saves from goalie Courtney Mallon and had the Knights’ top threats well-covered.

With Souderton face-guarding Lily Szilagyi, the Knights had to change some things up in the second half. Stressman was eager to capitalize, scoring two goals after halftime including the go-ahead tally on a feed from Szilagyi with 18:17 left in the game.

“I think we could get around them, we wanted to get the ball down and not have anyone hold onto it too long,” Stressman, who also had five ground balls and forced two turnovers, said. “It’s what we practice on doing. I think we’re connecting very well on the field, we’re all such good friends and that’s very helpful when you bring it on the field.”

North Penn didn’t trail again and got goals from Baily, who led the team with a hat trick, and Kerry O’Donnell before Szilagyi found Stressman again to a cap a 5-0 run to open the half for a 10-6 lead with 9:41 on the clock. Souderton out-scored the hosts 3-1 over the final 5:12 but Holt and her defensive group also wedged in enough stops over that span that cost the visitors precious time.

Holt made two stops on Souderton’s Clark Trowbridge during a second-half sequence before the defense forced a turnover and ground ball. She had a critical stop on a free position shot with eight minutes left and denied Trowbridge on a restart with 3:05 on the clock and the Knights holding a 10-7 lead.

“That’s been something we’ve had in every game, with every stop we gain momentum,” Holt said. “We come into games with the mindset we can beat any team and it’s a good mindset to have that carries us on to winning games.”

John added a ground ball to her hat trick while Reiley Knize had a productive game for Souderton with two goals, two caused turnovers and four ground balls. Trowbridge had six ground balls and was finally able to put a goal past Holt with 22 seconds left for the final margin.

Mallon made eight stops in goal for Souderton, including several in the final five minutes that kept the door open for her team to try and mount another rally.

North Penn got two goals, an assist and five ground balls from Lindsay, who committed to play lacrosse and basketball at Ursinus over the weekend. Baily added an assist and forced turnover to her three goals, Preston and Mallitz each had three ground balls and Szilagyi finished with a goal, two assists and caused turnover.

Although Monday’s win put North Penn atop the National for the moment, Mellow cautioned the Knights still have a long way to go.

“We have so many people yet to go through and this year, everyone’s a contender,” Mellow said. “You can’t take any of them lightly so we have a lot yet to face and get through.”

NORTH PENN 11, SOUDERTON 9
NORTH PENN 5 6 – 11
SOUDERTON 6 3 – 9
Goals-Assists: NP – Jordan Baily 3-1, Lily Szilagyi 1-2, Alli Lindsay 2-1, Kayla Stressman 2-0, Emily Varilla 1-0, Riley O’Donnell, Kerry O’Donnell; S – Isabel John 3-0, Avery Farina 1-1, Reiley Knize 2-0, Caroline Kelly 1-0, Lauren Hallman 1-0, Clark Trowbridge 1-0.
Shots: NP – 19, S – 20. Saves: NP – Kiera Holt 11, S – Courtney Mallon 8.