North Penn earns rainy win over Souderton
TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn’s Senior Night began and ended with the Knights’ seniors on the field, included an impressive defensive stretch midway through, and — from start to finish — had all the wind, rain and bluster you could ask for.
“It adds to it. It adds to the intensity, I think,” said one of the Knights’ elder statesman, Luke Homan. “I like it. I think it makes it more intense.”
Homan’s goal with just 22 seconds left in the first quarter put North Penn in front for good, sending the Knights to a 10-5 win over Souderton Area in a wet Suburban One League Continental Conference clash Friday night.
“I think we started out slow — credit to Souderton, they played well, gave us a good fight,” Homan said. “That’s what we were looking for.”
Breaking a 2-2 deadlock, the Knights shut out Souderton in the middle quarters and got a pair of scores from Reece Udinski to build a 9-2 advantage.
North Penn improved its Continental record to 7-3 with two conference games remaining, including Monday’s home contest against Pennridge. The Knights went into Friday’s game tied for third — they have a chance at second place and possibly first. Central Bucks East (9-2) has a chance to clinch the conference crown Tuesday at Souderton.
North Penn, improving tremendously from last year’s 7-11 finish, is headed towards the playoffs, thanks in large part to the play of its seniors over the last four seasons.
“I can’t believe it’s already here,” Homan said of Senior Night. “All of our seniors stepped up tonight. It was a lot of fun. We have a crosstown rivalry with Souderton…it couldn’t have been better.”
Homan, who may play club next year when he heads to The University of Pittsburgh, helped the Knights put together a 7-0 run to get the game under their control.
A young Souderton program (0-11 conference) continues to make strides and show some offensive punch, led by senior midfielder Corey Azeff’s pair of scores.
“One of our main goals was to be a better team in May than we were in the beginning of the year,” Big Red coach Mark Princehorn said. “We played a lot of young guys, a lot of inexperienced guys, and we’ve really tried to just come together, get experience and grow.
“(You want to) win some lacrosse games, but for us the most important thing right now is getting experience and getting better.”
Big Red has a non-conference game Monday, at home against Upper Moreland.
