North Penn goes all in, hands Pennridge first loss

TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn had nothing to lose, so it played with everything to win.

The Knights girls soccer team used that willingness to risk it all as the pen to author a strong half against Pennridge on Thursday night in their regular season finale. All but assured of a District 1 playoff spot next week, North Penn wanted to see if it could better its seeding against one of the district’s top sides.

With nothing to lose, the Knights got a pretty big win and handed Pennridge its first loss this fall in a 2-1 victory under the lights.

“Our message was we had nothing to lose,” Knights defender and co-captain Grace Sacchetti said. “We were already in playoffs, they were undefeated and we wanted to be the ones to break their undefeated season.”

“We didn’t have anything to lose but definitely a lot to gain,” co-captain Emily Schurr said.

Wind was certainly a factor, but credit for the result goes to the North Penn players who went on the offensive in the second half and didn’t let up. They weren’t pinned back in the first half by any means, but the visiting Rams were a bit more potent in the first 40 minutes.

Pennridge (15-1-1, 10-1-1 SOL Continental) scored on its second shot of the game, which immediately followed its first shot. Midfielder Maddie Anderson took a try from deep that North Penn keeper Anna Fiore parried but didn’t cover, allowing Leah Malone to punch home the rebound.

The Rams had nine shots on target for the game, but eight of them came in the first half. Pennridge coach Audrey Anderson felt her team got a little too wrapped up in goings-on outside the match in the second half, which North Penn (9-7-2, 6-4-2) was happy to jump on.

“It’s a strange thing, I don’t know where it comes from but these players feel like they’re never allowed to lose,” Anderson said. “That’s never my goal. I’ve been doing this a long time and one year, we were 18-0 and our first loss ended our season. It’s better to lose when it’s not ending your season but I told them after the game our goal was never to be perfect.”

The result had a dynamic impact on the District 1-4A rankings, at least for the moment. Pennridge fell from No. 1 to No. 2 while the Knights jumped from No. 18 all the way to No. 13, which if holds, would give North Penn a first-round home game.

It’s also a tale of growth for the Knights this season. At the start of the year, North Penn played a lot of high-scoring games as it tried to find the right pieces and formation. While the defense took its lumps, a loss to Souderton in the second half of conference play really righted things.

North Penn shifted its defensive alignment and has been on a roll ever since, now heading into the postseason confident.

“It is impressive,” Knights co-head coach Mike Rio said. “You move girls around, try different positions and see what works best and since the loss to Souderton, it’s just been clicking and we’ve been rolling. The mentality of the girls is amazing, they practice hard, they play hard and they want to win for each other.”

Early on in the second half, the Knights showed they weren’t going to sit back. About 10 minutes in, they got the equalizer and took off from there. Liv Urban was able to play a ball in to Kloey Carmanti and the junior did the rest, taking her space and finishing a terrific shot to the low far post.

“At halftime, we were just having fun with it, everyone came out and played really hard and we all had the same idea that we really wanted to win this game,” Sacchetti said. “As soon as we scored the first goal, I knew we were going to win, it seemed like their heads were down and we were all pumped.”

With 25 minutes left, the Knights drew a corner kick and their set piece artist in Sacchetti set up to take it. The senior drove the ball right to the middle of the box where Schurr, one of the smaller players on the field, went up unmarked and headed it in for the eventual winner.

“No one was covering me,” Schurr said. “It was all a blur, I just saw the ball come in and went for it. Grace and I have been waiting for that one though, that’s for sure.”

Pennridge had a couple chances late in the game but couldn’t find a tying goal. The Rams finish the regular season Friday against Hatboro-Horsham, then will have some time to rest and train before their playoff runs begins.

North Penn, which defeated Pennridge for the first time since the 2015 season, will now wait for its final district seeding and no matter where it falls or what opponent it brings, the Knights believe they’re ready for it.

“No matter where we’ll go, we’ll want it,” Schurr said. “The momentum is there and everyone wants to be a part of this, everybody wants to keep winning.”

NORTH PENN 2, PENNRIDGE 1
PENNRIDGE 1 0 – 1
NORTH PENN 0 2 – 2