FRANCONIA – It was the final seconds of double overtime but North Penn boys soccer goalkeeper Troy Nine’s work was not yet done.
Souderton’s Cameron Taylor charged down the right side of the field and unleashed a shot that looked poised to reach the opposite corner of the net. Nine, however, extended out to his right and got a hand to the ball, denying the Indians’ bid for a late winner Wednesday night.
“I think I just got a nice little push away,” Nine said. “Really good shot but just the boys, we did a good job, really nice effort. “
Nine’s superb save ensured the SOL Colonial Division matchup ended in a tie, neither side putting a shot past him or Souderton keeper Chris McKenna in the 100 minutes as the rivals settled for a 0-0 draw.
“I thought Cam won it, I honestly thought Cam won it,” Souderton first-year coach Frank Demas said. “We were ready to go nuts. I thought he won it. But I mean, hands up to their goalie, he made a fantastic save to finish it.”
Nine came through for the Knights (1-2-1, 1-1-1 division) in both overtimes, knocking a ball away from the goal after a corner kick in the first extra session then stopped a pair of shots early in the second OT before making the last-second save on Taylor.
“I was like last minute just got to be big in big moments,” said Nine, a senior in his second season as the Knights’ starting keeper. But all credit, man, to the boys. Just giving me good defensive work, didn’t really have to make too many saves ‘til the end. And just I’m really proud of all of our boys, especially the young ones.”
It was North Penn’s second shutout in four games, its 1-0 overtime win over Pennridge sandwiched between 1-0 losses to Lansdale Catholic and Central Bucks West.
“Just a really good defensive effort,” Nine said. “Our two best center backs are back in action after strep throat and injury. I just think we did a really good job bouncing back from our last game at (Central Bucks) West and just really proud of the boys for giving us a complete performance.”
The clean sheet was the first for Souderton (1-1-1, 1-1-1) after starting the season falling 2-0 to Central Bucks South then topping Pennridge 2-1 in overtime.
“They were great on the ball, they were great in possession and we were super-dangerous in transition,” Demas said. “It’s just you could see it as soon as overtime hit, you could see it was going to be one, maybe little unlucky moment to separate us or nothing was happening. And that’s what happened.”
With Wednesday’s result, North Penn and Souderton each have four points in SOL Colonial play – the early portion of the division race having Central Bucks East on top with nine points and Central Bucks West second with six.
Both the Knights and Indians have road division contests Friday – North Penn at Central Bucks South at 3:30 while Souderton visits East at 4 p.m.
Nine, who also plays on club side FC Delco 06 ECNL, said a focus for his senior year with North Penn was being ready to make the crucial plays when called upon.
“I just think last year there was a couple of times where just in the big moments I wasn’t able to get there,” Nine said. “So I just really worked in club ball, just making sure I was there in the biggest moments of the game, to bail my team out when they needed it.”
In the first overtime, a Souderton corner kick bounced through a crowd in the 18-yard box and towards the Indians’ Nicolas Barrales and NP’s Logan Smith near the left post. Barrales went up to try for a header and Nine dove over – the ball continuing towards the net but Nine knocked it away.
“I think I just kind of saw they had a man on me, seen it a couple of times in club ball,” Nine said. “Just I didn’t want him to get that touch cause I knew that touch was going to be a hard one to deal with so I just thought if I beat him to the ball nothing could happen.”
Nine stopped a Tannor Wiszneski shot just before halftime then in the second half came out beyond the box and made a kick-save on a Wiszneski breakaway.
“I think, personally, I might’ve hesitated a little bit,” Nine said. but I realized that I didn’t want him to score so I just threw everything I had at it.”
The Knights keeper thwarted Jacob Luciani in the second OT, blocking the Souderton junior’s dipping shot from the top of the box.
“Honestly, we always want to win a game but both teams played amazing and we adapted really well after the first 15 minutes and I thought we kind of carried the game a little bit,” Demas said. “So I think we just finish a few chances we can win the game next time.”
In the first half, North Penn’s Conor Sullivan and the ball went over outcoming Big Red keeper McKenna but Souderton’s Trent Weaver – who was running with Sullivan – got back to clear the ball away from the open goal.
After the break, a cross by the Knights’ Dmitri Ilovski found Shafiq Henaidy in front but Henaidy’s header went over the net.
“I feel like we made a lot of good efforts at goal, lot of good chances just sometimes the keeper bail ‘em out,” Nine said. “He had a pretty great game too. I’ve played against him a good amount of times, I know he’s a great goalkeeper but I just think maybe a little bit more clinical and we win that game.”
