TOWAMENCIN – Close matchups are thrilling, leaving the crowd with an unsettled feeling that is relieved the moment the final buzzer goes off and the team, who put forth the most effort, win all the glory.

On Monday afternoon, the North Penn Girls Lacrosse team (4-2, 4-0 league) trumped Souderton with an 11-9 win.

“I thought my defense played well. I thought my offense was patient and they found the right opportunities to score and our goalkeeper had some awesome saves,” head coach Heather Mellow said. 

After Friday’s heartbreaking loss, the team has been working endlessly on critiquing their play with hopes of bettering themselves both individually and as a team. 

 “I think a lot of the stuff we have worked on has improved since Friday’s loss, but as a whole, we have been progressing nicely,” Mellow said.

Senior Lily Szilagyi has been anxiously awaiting this game for quite some time, as she plays with a majority of Souderton’s star players on her club team. She knew this game wasn’t going to be a walk in the park, but that made the win much sweeter.

“We knew a lot of their tendencies, but they also knew ours, so it went both ways, but we held our own and brought home the win,” Szilagyi said. 

Souderton saw Szilagyi as a threat, and placed 2 marks on her throughout the entirety of the game, however, Szilagyi put North Penn on the scoreboard, getting the ball in the back of the net just minutes into the game. 

In addition to Szilagyi’s strong performance, Alli Lindsay, Emily Varilla, Jordan Baily, Kayla Stressman, Kerry O’Donnell, and Riley O’Donnell all contributed to the 11-9 win offensively. 

“I’m extremely happy with this win, especially coming off of our loss on Friday. Having the lead for the majority of the game and coming off with the win definitely felt good,” Lindsay said. 

In the backfield, Danielle Preston, and goalie Kiera Holt had some jaw-dropping saves, which drove the forward line toward the goal. 

“I think we played really well as a team. We definitely picked up our intensity at the end of the game, especially defensively,” Preston said. 

“We definitely executed everything we worked on in practice. I’m really happy with the way we played,” Holt said.

Looking ahead, the girls are more than ready to take down their next victim, Pennsbury, on their own turf, varsity at 3:30 and junior varsity at 4:45.