Souderton bests North Penn with 2nd-half scoring burst
FRANCONIA >> A goal had eluded Taylor Yoder in this early portion of the season and her patience was wearing a bit thin.
Catharsis finally came for the Souderton junior midfielder early in the second half Thursday night.
“Even last game I had a lot of chances that I felt I should of finished,” Yoder said. “Just I tend to struggle to get the goal in. So it was really nice to finally finish one. It felt good.”
Driving in on the right flank, Yank let got of a shot that slid just inside the far left post for her first tally of 2019 and ending the scoreless tie between the Indians girls soccer team and visiting North Penn.
“Honestly, I didn’t know where it was going to go,” she said. “I was just kind of in a tough spot and just tried to kind of hook it to the back post and luckily it went it.”
Yoder’s breakthrough ignited the Big Red attack as Souderton struck for three goals in the first 10 minutes after halftime, turning what was a tight match into a comfortable 3-1 victory in the Suburban One League Continental Conference opener for both sides.
“Definitely for this team we tend to struggle to find the net but once we find it, we really figure out what works,” Yoder said. “And we tend to capitalize on our chances once we get one.”
Hannah Alderfer scored 39 seconds late at 36:19 to double the Souderton lead while Avery Nogami added a third at 30:50 as the defending PIAA Class 4A champs improved to 3-0-0 (1-0-0 conference).
“There’s definitely some pressure but we talked about last season was great and we loved that that happened but it’s last season,” Yoder said. “So this season is a whole new season and we need to continue to prove ourselves. Last season doesn’t mean anything this season.”
North Penn pushed for the first goal with free kicks and corners in the final minutes before halftime only to come away empty. Souderton made the Knights pay for the missed chances quickly in the second half and handed them a second straight loss.
“I really liked the way we played tonight. I think it came down to that five minute-period there were it just kind of got away from us,” North co-head coach Mike Rio said. “We kind of just slipped up and before we got back on our feet, they had two more in. And then I liked the way we closed it out, we played strong ‘til the end.”
North Penn (1-2-0, 0-1-1) avoided the shutout with 1:13 remaining when Grace Sacchetti blasted a free kick into the top of the net.
“That’s just beautiful placement,” said Rio of Sacchetti’s strike. “Just beautiful, driven ball, upper 90, that’s the kind of free kick you dream of hitting and she deserved to be excited and happy after that.”
Yoder gave the Indians the 1-0 lead at 36:58 then 39 seconds later Alderfer extended the advantage to two on a breakaway down the left side, sliding a ball under the Knights keeper and into the net at 36:19.
“Averie (Doughty) played a beautiful ball over the defense and I ran onto it and finished it,” Alderfer said.
Big Red made it 3-0 at 30:50 off a free kick Sarah Toche-Manley sent into the 18-yard box, with sophomore Nogami eventually corralling the loose ball and knocking it into the back of the net.
“I feel like they started to get really frustrated with each other and themselves, and we always play as a team and that always helps us to work together,” Alderfer said. “And I think that’s why we came ahead instead of them.”
In all three of its games so far this season, the Indians have scored at least two goals– last year on the way to the state title Souderton had two or more goals in just nine of 26 contests.
“I think our team does a really good job of playing together,” Yoder said. “We definitely continue to support each other and we’re really good at like we know how each other play cause a lot of us play club together so we kind of know what runs we’re going to make and I think we just do really well with that.”
Both teams are back on the field Friday. Souderton stays in SOL Continental play as it visits Central Bucks West at 5 p.m. North Penn, looking for its first since besting Great Valley 6-2 in the Knights’ season opener, visits Lansdale Catholic at 3:45 p.m.
“Still have some young players that are still learning, trying to figure it out and dealing with some different formations, different players in different spots,” Rio said. “Overall, we were happy with the way we played tonight, obviously not the greatest result but it wasn’t one of the nights you walk away and say that we played bad soccer tonight. I like the soccer that we played for 70 of the 80 minutes.
Doughty had Souderton’s top chance to grab the lead in the first half, bursting behind the NP backline and driving straight on the net but the junior sent her shot high.
The Knights’ best opportunities to break the 0-0 stalemate came in the last minutes before intermission. A free kick into the box was redirected by Casey Cavanaugh to the front of goal but Ella Kregel cleared it for a corner. The ball dropped to Sacchetti’s feet on the corner, but her shot was blocked by Darby Kramer for another corner,
The second corner led to a second free kick but the effort from 25 yards out was sent wide right.
“Even on the corners, we got on the end of them, just couldn’t find the net and getting that first goal is always so big,” Rio said. “Just kind of gives your team that extra little bit of confidence. They got that tonight and they were able to build on it whereas if one of those goes in it goes the other way, we’re maybe feeling a little differently.”
