Fast start propels Knights past Souderton

Anissa Gardizy, Staff Writer|October 7, 2016

With an 11-7 victory over the Souderton Indians, the North Penn Knights continue to be undefeated Division Champions (7-0). Andrew Dunigan, pictured above, was responsible for 2 of the 11 goals scored by the Knights.

TOWAMENCIN- It was a quick tempo game between two conference rivals, the Knights and the Indians; however, the North Penn Knights (7-0), who are now on a smooth current to being undefeated Division Champions, notched an 11-7 victory against the Souderton Indians (5-5) in water polo action on Thursday afternoon.

The Knights took an offensive charge in the first quarter, with junior Aiden Daly scoring in the first minute of the game (6:18). His early goal sparked a goal hungry momentum that lead Derek Friday to score (4:35) and AJ Patterson to score twice (4:09, 3:13). Thanks to several saves by the Knights’ goalkeeper, Zachary Owens, the quarter ended with the Knights ahead of the Indians 4-0.

“They came out aggressive and earned a 4-0 lead; that’s always a good start to the first quarter,” said Coach Jason Grubb.

The Indians came out prepared to get on the scoreboard in the second quarter, scoring two goals in the first two minutes (6:41, 5:44). Their sudden offensive drive, however, was answered by North Penn goals from Patterson and Friday again, as well as by senior captain Nico Kountroubis. The Knights led 7-2 at the half with commanding control of the game.

Aiden Daly and Andrew Dunigan take a break from their 11-7 water polo victory over Souderton on October 6, 2016. (Photo by Anissa Gardizy)

“Some of our key moments were how we helped on defense, got quick turnovers, and consequently scored goals,” said AJ Patterson.

The third quarter was dominated by the Knights’ goalkeeper Zachary Owens as he blocked every attempted shot. His saves were supplemented by North Penn goals from Ryan Hartmann and Matt Franco and an additional two from Andrew Dunigan.

In the fourth quarter, the Indians made a commendable effort to stay in the game by scoring five goals, but it wasn’t enough to match the 11 goals North Penn had already earned.

“I think we really came together; we’ve been having awesome practices with spot on passing, and it all clicked tonight.” said Friday.

The Knights will be aiming to improve their overall winning record of 9-3 as they head to the Erie Challenge this weekend, October 8^th.

“We are at the homestretch of the season now,” stated Grubb. “We’re going to keep working hard, so by the end of the season we are good to go.”