North Penn falls to perennial SOL Continental power Central Bucks East

TOWAMENCIN — Perennial power Central Bucks East came to North Penn on Friday, bringing with it a cohesive style of play and a history of conference titles.

The Knights kept the Patriots scoreless early and were closing in late.

“We battled with them,’ Knights coach Rick Smith said. “Our guys fought for 48 minutes, and if we do that every single game, I think we’ll be OK.’

North Penn ultimately fell 6-2 to East, but on this cold, windy afternoon on the turf, the Knights — particularly in the second half — displayed their strengths.

“The reality is we don’t have wins yet,’ Smith said. “You can pull positive things from a loss, and I think the guys made a big turn today. But we can’t be complacent now. We’ve gotta come ready to work (on Saturday).

“We have three games next week, and we have to start getting some W’s. Our guys are motivated, they gained some confidence (Friday), and hopefully it will turn into some victories.’

Goals by Jake Hughes and Zack McKelvie, along with a defense that disrupted East’s flow, propelled North Penn (0-2) after the break.

Trevor Bickel made 15 saves in net for the Knights, many of them in bunches.

After the two teams played to a 0-0 tie into the second quarter, speedy Matthew Vetter got free, firing in a pair of goals to put the Patriots (2-0) up 2-0.

East gained further control of the Suburban One League Continental Conference matchup when Vetter set up Ryan Brown for a score, and then Logan Nelson scored just before the half to make it 4-0.

Back-to-back goals by Matt Brown extended the East lead to 6-0 in the third quarter, but North Penn controlled the majority of play over the final 14 minutes, scoring twice and threatening for a third.

The Knights aim to take the momentum into Monday’s home conference clash with Souderton Area, before hitting the road for games at Pennsbury and Neshaminy on Tuesday and Thursday.