Gonzalez’s last-minute goal lifts North Penn over Haverford in District 1-4A 2nd round

TOWAMENCIN >> The mindset from Jovani Gonzalez was the same in the final minute of the game as it was to end the first half.

In the earlier instance, his North Penn boys soccer team facing a deficit to Haverford in their District 1 Class 4A contest Thursday night, the forward knew his Knights had to stay composed, to stick with their game plan to get back on level terms.

In the final minute, with a free kick bouncing off the crowd in the box and falling to the foot of the senior striker, that same poise, in a microcosm of a moment, was unwavering.

“It’s all about composure,” Gonzalez said. “As a striker, you’ve got to be composed, any time you get a shot one-on-one with a goalie. You’ve got to be composed and be calm so you can put it away wherever you want.”

Gonzalez helped North Penn complete the comeback, his goal with 26.5 seconds left sending the seventh seed to a 3-2 win and dealing heartbreak to No. 10 Haverford.

The teams traded early goals, but Riley Carr’s strike in the 30th minute put the Fords (14-4-2) up 2-1 at the break. That set off a feverish chase by the Knights, and it wasn’t until the 61st minute that they got even and set up a grandstand finish.

Where the Knights (15-4) might have seen their focus bend somewhat late in the first half and the first hints of frustration creep in, they regrouped at halftime and chased down the deficit in earnest.

“You’ve got to stay calm, do what we do, move the ball around,” said Gonzalez, who kicked off the seesawing with his 10th-minute goal. “Sometimes that happens when we try to kick the ball long. At North Penn, we’re used to playing with possession, and that’s what we did today and we won.”

The first to be tested by adversity was Haverford, and the Fords responded beautifully. It took 11 minutes to claw back Gonzalez’s opener, with holding midfielder Mason Baylis playing a superb ball that forward Sean Boyle headed into his path around a defender and buried.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Fords were ahead off a corner kick that got lodged under Okafor Norkeh in the middle of the six-yard box. Norkeh cajoled it out from under him and into the path of Riley Carr, who roofed a shot to make it 2-1.

Down a goal, North Penn was forced into the chase, and Haverford resisted ably for 30 or so minutes.

“I’m proud of every kid, all the boys and the seniors, for working hard, putting their body on the line, giving it to the end,” Boyle said. “We didn’t get there, but I’m definitely proud of what we did and the run we made, and made a little bit of history for our school.”

Eric Reisenwitz made a huge save midway through the second half, hurtling his body at Jake Myers when the outside back latched onto a free kick that the wall deflected. But on the ensuing corner kick, the resistance finally was punctured, with Alex Stewart keeping a corner kick alive and playing back into the mixer where Achilles Triantafyllos, camped at the far post, pushed it across the line.

From there, North Penn seized the initiative. Haverford’s best chance of the half had been just before the Triantafyllos goal, with Baylis again splitting the lines for Boyle, but goalie Gabe Kemp made a big save to snuff out the counterattack.

Nate Kim hit a volley from 35 yards that just kept sailing in the 75th, and Reisenwitz tipped it over the bar, one of four saves. A Gonzalez free kick nearly found its way through the wall and in, but Aidan O’Neill cleared it off the line in the 77th.

Haverford ended up conceding one dangerous deadball chance too many. And in the final minute, Ryan Mindick lumped a 40-yard ball forward that caromed and found Gonzalez, who found nothing but the back of the net.

For a Haverford program where playoff wins are rare, the multi-year growth of this group has been a rewarding journey, even if it ends sooner than they’d like. So the Fords’ sideline waited afterward, until Reisenwitz and rock-solid center back Goggie Seidman had picked themselves off the turf, for one final breakdown huddle for the season.

“We talked about the whole season that we’re a family and it might be cheesy, but we wanted to work for it and give the seniors one last ride,” Boyle said. “We had to push and try to get back in the game, and we got back in the game early. I’m proud of that for sure.”