North Penn goes on the attack in win over Plymouth Whitemarsh
TOWAMENCIN >> The many connections have formed a network, an offense that is beginning to flow into form.
“They’ve really started to come together as a group,” North Penn coach Heather Mellow said of her team’s offense, which poured in eight first-half goals Friday. “We have some girls who have been on the team for a while, like Lily Szilagyi, that have been scoring for us. But this year, I feel we’re really balanced. Anybody can go out and score for us. So if (the opposing defense) decides to pick on Lily, we’ve got other girls who can get the job done.”
Four different players scored multiple goals for the Knights and seven scored in all, as North Penn led from start to finish in a 12-6 victory over Plymouth Whitemarsh in a Suburban One League non-conference game.
“We really came together as a team on the attack,” said the Knights’ Jordan Baily, who provided a hat trick. “And we definitely have some more plays that are working for us. And we really connected as a team.”
With the victory, North Penn raised its record to 2-1.
“We connected super well and we’re finding the open girl,” Baily said.
North Penn led 2-0 quickly and was ahead 8-2 midway through the first half.
Emily Varilla, Alli Lindsay and Lily Szilagyi all scored twice for the Knights in the win and Danielle Preston, Riley O’Donnell and Kayla Stressman added a goal each.
The Colonials, which got a pair of goals from Brianna Austin, closed to within 8-5 by the half.
The Knights had longer possessions in the second half, working the ball around and working down the clock. NP locked up the win with a pretty play, as Julia Yannul fed Baily for her third tally, making it 10-6 North Penn inside of nine minutes.
Said Baily of the second half, controlled by the Knights by a 4-1 margin: “We rotated our (midfielders) out on the draw a lot to see what works best. They really connected well too on transitions. We’ve definitely gotten better on those. And Mellow keeps inspiring us to do our best. We’re really looking forward to having a great season.”
Getting It Going >> North Penn struggled in its opener, a loss to West Chester Henderson, but responded with back-to-back wins.
“They’ve really been working well together,” Mellow said. “We don’t have any set plays or anything like that, so it’s about them getting comfortable with each other.
“(The opener) was just a very sloppy game. It looked like we hadn’t played in a long time. We made over 20 errors that day. So it was just a matter of cleaning up the mistakes, winning 50-50 balls, winning draws. That’s been huge, because it’s a game of possession.”
North Penn 12, Plymouth Whitemarsh 6
Plymouth Whitemarsh 5 1 – 6
North Penn 8 4 – 12
Plymouth Whitemarsh goals: Lauren Ianello, Fiona Gooneratne, Brianna Austin 2, Mackenzie Leszczynski, Raya Gauntlett.
North Penn goals: Emily Varilla 2, Jordan Baily 3, Danielle Preston, Riley O’Donnell, Alli Lindsay 2, Kayla Stressman, Lily Szilagyi 2.
