TOWAMENCIN – North Penn scored fast and scored early on Tuesday afternoon, placing three shots in the back of the net in the first 7 minutes of the game. By halftime the score was 4-0 and the game was out of reach for Quakertown.
The Knights wasted little time by taking the lead in the first minute off a shot from Kevin McKenna in the box. The Knights repeatedly attacked the center of Panthers defense, which continually buckled under the pressure applied by North Penn.
The Panthers were just simply unable to match the Knights pace to start the game.
“We always like to come out high pressure first five minutes. Keep the other team at 0 and if we can get one ourselves that’s great. In the situation [we were in] we got 3 in [7] minutes which is fantastic. We kinda put them on their heels and from there we just built and scored more goals” stated Senior captain Brad Deckel following the game.
Following the quick start, many of the Knight’s starters took to the bench and gave way to the younger players on the squad, who made the most of the ample playing time they received. The most notable being Junior striker Liam Parker who continually pushed the play with his blistering speed and gave the Panthers backline fits. Parker capped off his strong effort with a goal off of a penalty kick in the 71st minute to cap the scoring for the Knights.
Unfortunately for Quakertown, they continually were unable to maintain possession, as they repeatedly made poor passes that resulted into turnovers. With the Panthers inability to hold onto the ball, let alone create quality scoring chances, the Knights were more than happy to bring the ball onto the Panthers’ side of the field and simply play keep away with it until a quality scoring chance presented itself.
While the players in the field struggled for Quakertown, Sophomore goalkeeper Steven Hippauf turned in an admirable effort despite the lopsided score. Hippauf was able turn away fourteen of twenty shots directed on net.
Down the other end of the pitch, the North Penn Goalkeeping duo of Jordan Katz and Alan Verone weren’t nearly as busy. Katz played the first half and did not have a single shot directed his way, while Verone was able to stop the two shots he faced and preserve the shutout.
Next up for the Knights is a pivotal showdown with the C.B. West Bucks who come in with a record of 2-1-0, which is good for 6 points. The same exact record and point total North Penn boasts going into Thursday’s game.
“We realize the we gotta win that game. [We] got three games this week but that’s probably the biggest one of them all since it’s a non-conference game. We get that win we have 9 points out of 12 and we’re in good shape going in to play Hatboro, Pennridge. Those kind of teams.” Deckel said when asked about the matchup.
It’ll be critical for North Penn to get off to a fast start once again like they did against the Panthers in order to claim three points against the Bucks.
“We gotta go in strong, I know that. We gotta keep working hard and in practice we gotta keep working hard at it as if we wanna win.” said Senior fullback Kevin Schoell.
Success on Thursday is going to be crucial for the Knights, the game on Tuesday wasn’t a bad start.
