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NORTH ANDOVER — He’s only a freshman, but Evan Dudney is making his presence felt for the North Andover boys soccer team. Yesterday, in fact, it was felt in a big way as he came off the bench to score North Andover’s  first two goals, fueling the No. 3 seed Knights to a 3-1 victory over Triton in the first round of the Division 2 North tournament. North Andover (16-1-2) advances to tomorrow’s 2 p.m. quarterfinals at home against Reading, a 4-2 winner over Tewksbury yesterday. “He (Evan Dudney) is a guy who I bring in as the third forward and he has really come on,” said North Andover coach Bill Tarbox . “He has that goal scoring aptitude — he scored our only goal against Rockport.” Dudney scored the game’s first goal after 30 minutes in the first half, from about 18 yards out, on an assist from classmate Dennis Graff, who is the only other freshman on the varsity roster, but Triton tied it up shortly thereafter on a Justin Paquette goal to make it 1-1 at halftime. Then, at the 22:12 mark of the second half, older brother Gareth Dudney fired a long direct kick to the left side of the goal to Jay Marchand, who directed it over to the right side. Evan took the ball in mid-air and kicked it in for the game-winner. “He (Evan) seems to be in the right place at the right time — he’s a hard-nosed player. He has a long way to go to develop the skills of Gareth, but he’s only a freshman and he has plenty of time.” North Andover controlled much of the field possession, particularly in the second half, and it seemed like just a matter of time before it scored. Following Dudney’s second score, Jay Marchand scored an insurance goal six minutes later when brother Ross Marchand sent a long pass down the field. With Jay ahead of the defenders, Triton goalie Dan Norton came out to try and get to the ball first. But Jay Marchand beat him and sent a crossing shot into the net from about 20 yards out. “This was an important win for us because we got eliminated (from the tournament) in the first game last year,” said Tarbox. “It’s important for the seniors and also for our younger kids to get a taste of what it takes.”

For the first time in eight years, North Andover has captured the CAL championship.

With last night's 1-0 win over Newburyport, the Knights dethroned traditional power, Masconomet, which has dominated the league for much of the past eight seasons. Gareth Dudney tallied the only goal of the game.

Nine different players were involved in the scoring as North Andover's boys soccer team whipped Amesbury 7-1. Jay Marchand led the way with a pair of goals and an assist for the Knights (12-1-2).

Under difficult weather conditions, defense made the difference in Methuen's first win of the season, 2-0 over Newburyport. Justin Bonneau, Fred Corey, Jesse Rodenhiser and Colin Trainor played exceptionally well and "kept everything in check," according to head coach Claude Beaudet. Reyny Martinez's goal eight minutes into second half play was the game-winner for the Rangers.

After a three-goal effort against Amesbury, Georgetown's Matt Bitchell went off for another hat trick in a 5-2 victory over a tourney-bound Rockport squad. Ryan Browner, who opened the scoring for the Royals (4-7-3), spotted a perfect pass for Bitchell early in the second half for the eventual game-winner.

 North Andover erased three deficits before capturing a 4-3 win over Triton. Evan Boudreau netted a pair of goals for the Knights (8-1-2), who keep their hopes for the CAL title alive with the win. Boudreau's winning tally came with just under three minutes to go; it was the Knights first lead of the game.

North Reading's Chris Cavanaugh scored a goal with 58 seconds left to give North Reading its first win this month over Georgetown. The goal was unassisted and was scored from 20 yards out on a great lofted kick. Georgetown had carried play until that point despite the tied game. Dave Vollor scored North Readings other goal and Georgetown's goal came from Matt Bitchell.

Freshman Matt Farrell converted on his give-and-go pass from Zach Brickett with 2 1/2 minutes left to give Pentucket a 2-1 win over Newburyport, and give the Sachems the ALS Cup title in dramatic fashion.

Trailing by two goals 10 minutes into the second half, Taylor Beaton struck for two goals in the final 15 minutes to help Pentucket earn a 3-3 tie with North Andover. Goalie Paul Mansfield turned in key late saves for the Sachems.

Despite the best efforts of junior David McCarron, Pentucket dropped a 3-1 verdict to Haverhill.

Installed at fullback for the first time ever, McCarron "played the whole game because he played fantastic," said coach Christian Langlois. "Haverhill may have scored three goals, but none of them came on David's side of the field."

Georgetown's boys soccer team came close to an upset before settling for a 2-2 tie with undefeated Masconomet. Sophomore Matt Bitchell took captain Peter Nowak's long crossing pass early in the second half and found the mark to tie the game, 1-1. Bitchell then fed a free kick to Ryan Browner who headed the ball past the Chieftain netminder to put the Royals (2-4-1) on top. Masco (5-0-1) surged for a last-minute score and the deadlock.

Andrew Carroll kept his team in the game with 10 first-half saves then sprang out of the net and scored a goal in the second, but Georgetown fell to Rockport in boys soccer, 3-1.

Pentucket's Zack Brickett scored two goals and set up two more, figuring in half of the offense for the Sachems in a 10-1 win over Amesbury.

Jim Savelyev was denied a goal minutes before on an offsides call, but he pressed on and knocked home the game-winner with 13 minutes to go as No. 14 Georgetown trimmed No. 10 St. Mary’s of Lynn, 2-1.

The Royals advanced to the Division 3 North final for the first time since 1989. On Saturday, they will play No. 4 Hamilton-Wenham, which beat the Royals, 1-0, in the regular season.

Jim Savelyev was denied a goal minutes before on an offsides call, but he pressed on and knocked home the game-winner with 13 minutes to go as No. 14 Georgetown trimmed No. 10 St. Mary’s of Lynn, 2-1.

The Royals advanced to the Division 3 North final for the first time since 1989. On Saturday, they will play No. 4 Hamilton-Wenham, which beat the Royals, 1-0, in the regular season.