Kohler scores twice, North Penn cruises past CB West
TOWAMENCIN — A give-and-go with Brad Deckel gave North Penn’s Liam Parker some space to unleash a shot from his left foot. The effort traveled through a little traffic, took a short hop that somehow deflected off the arms of Central Bucks West goalkeeper Daniel Merritt and into the back of the net.
“It was a nice goal, but I think it slid on the grass a little bit,’ Knights coach Paul Duddy said. “It was wet at that point and I think it kind of skipped.’
Parker’s tally was the first of many bounces to go the way of the North Penn boys soccer team Tuesday afternoon. Five different players collected a goal as the Knights scored three times in each half in cruising to a 6-1 Suburban One League Continental Conference win over the visiting Bucks.
“Some game you play 80 minutes and you have all the chances and nothing goes in. And today just a lot went in,’ Duddy said.
Mike Kohler scored twice and added a assist as North Penn matched a season-high in goals — having dropped six in a shutout victory over Quakertown Sept. 9 — to winning its second straight and ninth in its past 10.
“A lot of different guys found the back of the net,’ Duddy said. “Basically, you said it, everything was going right for us.’
After Parker’s opening tally, Nicholas Miller and Kohler staked North Penn (10-3-0, 9-2-0 conference out to a 3-0 halftime lead. Corey Hockenbury and Scott Kohler made it 5-0 Knights before West (7-6-2, 6-4-1) got its goal from Jack Tilley. Mike Kohler capped off the game’s scoring thanks to a headed assist from Jacob Diamond.
“We definitely have a strong attack,’ Mike Kohler said. “So many different people scored today, we have a very balanced attack. And now we’re just looking forward to Thursday.’
The loss continued a tough start to the week for the Bucks, who fell 2-0 to Council Rock South in an SOL non-conference matchup Monday.
“We had a rough one last night, some of that spilled over to tonight. It’s hard when you have to play these back-to-back games,’ CB West coach Stefan Szygiel. “But that’s the league, that’s the scheduling, that’s how it worked out. It was a rough 48 hours for us, but by no means are we down and out.
“It’s the kind of thing now with this new (District 1) ranking thing, anything’s possible. We still have three games to go, so nothing’s written off by any means.’
Both teams stay in SOL Continental play Thursday — Central Bucks West hosts Hatboro-Horsham at 3:30 p.m. while North Penn is home for a 7 p.m. contest with Pennridge.
