North Penn wins a wild one over Pennridge

EAST ROCKHILL >> “A game of runs” is typically used to describe a basketball game, but it can be applied to any sport.

It’s certainly the right way to describe the Suburban One League National Conference lacrosse game between North Penn and Pennridge Monday night.

North Penn turned a two-goal deficit into a five-goal lead when it scored seven straight goals over a 14:36 stretch surrounding halftime. Pennridge responded with six straight goals over 9:57 to take a one-goal lead with 3:32 remaining in the game.

North Penn’s Lauren Blanch tied the game with 2:26 left and Kayla Stressman gave them the lead with 1:50 to go. The Knights won the ensuing faceoff and were able to possess the ball the rest of the way in their 12-11 win at Pennridge High School’s Hellman Field.

“It happens more than you would think,” Stressman said of the team’s trading game-changing runs. “We’re used to it. We dug down and kept pushing.”

“It was very back-and-forth but neither side gave up,” Blanch said. “It was really fun to see how much we could push through and win.”

North Penn (7-4, 5-1 SOL National) started its run late in the first half facing a 5-3 deficit. Blanch scored three goals in less than four minutes to send the Knights to halftime with a 6-5 advantage.

Blanch kept the momentum going after intermission. She scored four straight goals to make it a personal 7-0 run and put the Knights ahead, 10-5.

“I was just feeling good,” she said. “I felt like every time I went my teammates were doing well to spread the field to weave back out for me to go. It was electric. It was really fun.”

While Blanch was scoring, North Penn’s defense was keeping a prolific Pennridge offense off the board. The Knights held the Rams scoreless for 18:05 of gametime – from 6:34 remaining in the first half to 13:29 left in the second.

“A lot of communication,” Blanch credited for the strong defense. “It really helps that Kiera Holt, our goalkeeper, talks so much. We got a lot of the draw controls, which always helps.”

The 10-5 score stood for a little more than a minute before Pennridge (8-4, 4-2 SOL National) started its run. Kate Unzicker scored with 13:29 left and Kendall Posey added another with 9:16 to go to make it 10-7. Unzicker scored twice and Ava Fantaskey added another for three goals in a 40-second stretch to tie the game at 10 with 4:20 remaining.

Fastaskey scored less than a minute later to put the Rams ahead 11-10 with 3:32 remaining.

The Knights trailed for just 66 seconds before Blanch tied things up at 11 with her eighth goal of the game, a career high.

Stressman, who recorded her 200th career draw control, earned a free position in the final two minutes and converted to give the Knights the 12-11 lead. It was her third goal of the game.

“Just score, honestly,” Stressman said of her mindset on the game-winner. “I just kept running. So many people were on me. I didn’t know, I was hoping to get that call and I got it.”

Unzicker led Pennridge with five goals, Fantaskey added three and Grace Rosica had two.

Holt made nine saves in goal for North Penn while Pennridge’s Anjali Verma stopped three shots.

North Penn is tied for second place with Council Rock South in the SOL National with matching 5-1 league records. They’re a half-game behind 5-0 Pennsbury. Pennridge is in fourth at 4-2.

North Penn 12, Pennridge 11

North Penn 6 6 – 12

Pennridge 5 6 – 11

Goals: NP: Lauren Blanch 8, Kayla Stressman 3, Grace McGeehan. PR: Grace Rosica 2, Kate Unzicker 5, Ava Fantaskey 3, Kendall Posey.

Saves: NP: Kiera Holt 9. PR: Anjali Verma 3.