TOWAMENCIN – “It meant a lot to be able to get back out there with the boys. Of course scoring the winner felt good, but nothing means more to me than being able to come back out here and play with my team and help contribute,” said Senior Dominik Gedek following his OT winner in his first game back with the team.

Following their intense overtime win on Monday; the North Penn boys soccer team followed up their nerve-racking performance with yet another one on Thursday evening. The Knights (10-2) held off underdog and division rival CB South (6-6) by a score of 2-1 in Overtime on Thursday. 

After missing the back half of the season due to off the field complications, Gedek was back with the boys on Thursday evening for their 2nd Round of the District playoffs and he wasted no time making his presence felt.

“It was great to have Dom back with the boys. We did not even know he was playing until about 6 o’clock today, so that was a pretty nice surprise. He is obviously so dangerous, and he does a really good job getting behind and using his left and right foot. He definitely scored a big one today for us today,” Said Senior Co-Captain Josh Jones.

Both of the Knights victories so far during their playoff run have come in the overtime period. Head coach Chris Depeppe believes that while these past two games may have not been too easy on the heart, they will be beneficial down the stretch.

“Tight games like these last two really do a lot for team chemistry and the whole North Penn family. I am happy to see us get a win in that fashion and I feel like it will only help us in the long run,” Depeppe said.

As expected coming into the night, the game was extremely back and forth and very physical from the get-go. CB South had a couple of chances in the first 10, however strong play in net from Senior goalkeeper Sawyer Meade helped the Knights withstand the early surge.

The first goal would not come until the 56th minute, when Junior center back Ryan Mindick would step up and send a beautiful ball to Jones who placed it perfectly over the Titans goalkeeper Ryan Gross, giving the Knights the 1-0 lead.

“Mindy has been fantastic, I think he has been the best center back in our league all season. It just goes to show there is so much to be said for the guys who might not usually show up on the score sheet. Mindy, Murphy and Nate Kim all played great games tonight,” Depeppe said.

Following the goal, it may have seemed like North Penn was in a prime position to take over and put the game away. However, it only took the Titans 2 minutes to swing the momentum back in their favor when big Junior AJ Peev finally broke through the defense and shot a lazer past Meade, tying the game at 1.

“They find [Peev] every which way, but I thought we did a good job containing him. He is a tough kid, we had numbers back on his goal and he still managed to find a way to score. I told Murph and Mindy before the game that they were going to be unsung heroes containing him and I thought they stepped up in a big way,” Depeppe said.

The game would remain 1-1 until the end of regulation, meaning yet another heart-wrenching overtime was on the way for North Penn.

The boys were fired up and came out ready to play in the extra period. Gedek kicked things off by slotting an amazing through ball to Senior Ryan McCann who got in on a breakaway with Jones. Gross however came out and made an unbelievable save, keeping the Titans season alive. CB South would turn this save into a 2 on 1 the other way, but Senior Kevin Murphy was there to shut the door on that opportunity as well.

“Kevin’s timing on tackles is incredible. He is a very quick, strong, and physical athlete and he makes a lot of big tackles. So who knows how much he is hurting right now because he made a bunch of those today. It was definitely a big boy game,” Depeppe added.

A couple of minutes later, Junior Alex Stewart stepped up and made a huge physical play on the ball that eventually found the foot of Gedek. With room to work and big 6’4 Jones in front of him, it was looking like this would be the break the Knights needed to put the game away.

Dom continued to carry the ball into South territory and a couple of moves later the ball was in the back of the net, sending the Knights into the third round of the playoffs.

“I started dribbling forward, and I was planning on sending it to Josh, but he ran left, and about 3 guys went with him. That opened up a wide gap in the middle for me so I decided to keep carrying it forward,” Gedek said.

Due to multiple upsets throughout the tournament, the Knights are the highest seed remaining in the bracket. As such, the Knights have secured home field throughout and will play the rest of their games on the turf if they continue to keep up their winning ways.

The Boys will be back at it next Tuesday when they take on 7th seeded Neshaminy with a trip to the District finals on the line.