TOWAMENCIN – The North Penn boys’ soccer team finished the regular season Wednesday night with an exhilarating Senior Knight win, coming from behind to beat Central Bucks East 2-1. The victory caps off an impressive second half of the season for the Knights, who are looking to ride the momentum into district playoffs.
The boys fell behind early in the contest, as a poor clearance following a CB East free kick led to a breakaway and an easy tap-in goal for the Patriots that gave them a 1-0 lead in only the 3rd minute. The deficit didn’t last long however, as senior winger Demitri Ilovski received a great through ball over the top and chipped in a clinical finish past the keeper for the equalizer.
“We lost to East away [earlier in the season] and this is our senior night, so right when they went up, we knew we had to get a goal cause we were not planning on losing the game,” Ilovski stated. “I definitely felt the urgency when I was in behind, but when you get there it’s just a finish, you’re calm on the ball, so I just put it in the back of the net.”
The two teams battled each other neck and neck for the rest of the game, with both sides unable to break the tie as the clock winded down. Desperately searching for a winner, striker Ryan Miller was the knight in shining armor for North Penn when he slotted home the go-ahead goal in the bottom corner off a cross with just 10 minutes left to play.
“It’s a big game for the [playoff] seedings, y’know, you had to go all out, we weren’t trying to lose on senior night, it’s our last regular season game,” Miller said. “It feels awesome [to score the winner], y’know, a moment I’ll never forget. Just glad to help the team out any way I can.”
Ilovski had nothing but praise for his fellow teammates on the pitch. “The team performed great, to come back from one-nothing down…we showed our perseverance, we showed our resilience. This team has always been like that all season, so it’s been great.”
The team’s confidence surrounding the upcoming postseason is buzzing as well, as Wednesday’s win put an exclamation point on a slew of recent North Penn victories that have them feeling good about themselves heading into districts.
“I feel great, y’know, the higher standing you are, the easier opponents we get, and we’re just trying to look forward from here,” Miller stated.
“It helps us a lot, obviously, it get us a higher seed maybe,” Ilovski adds. “But just the confidence, y’know, winning the game, especially senior night, the last regular game of the season. It gives us a lot to go into the postseason and know we can do our best and go far with a win like that.”
On a night dedicated to the seniors, the one thing that has outshined all the games started and minutes played during their high school careers is the bond that this year’s group of 12th graders share.
“I mean, a lot of us came from just freshman year together on JV, y’know,” captain Ian Balisalisa reflected. “Me, Nino [Brnardic], Shafic [Henaidy], Demitri, we all spent freshman year together on JV, and it’s been awesome just slowly moving up together, and just over the last four years, the countless hours we’ve spent together.”
Balisalisa is also high on the team’s potential to perform well this postseason. “[This win] makes me really hopeful because all these games that we’ve won in the last few games were games we lost initially. So it just shows the growth and development that we’ve had over the season. And it makes me excited for what comes next in the playoffs.”
The boys will spend the next couple days preparing for districts , which begin next week. North Penn is currently ranked #11 in District 1. It will be a tough challenge, but there’s no doubt that the Knights led by their seniors have what it takes to make it far into the playoffs. Only time will tell how their last dance will play out.