Boys Soccer: Perrins’ OT goal earns Strath Haven beautifully brutal district championship

UPPER MERION — Ben Wainfan looked like he was waiting for the cut man to return to his boxing corner, his swollen eye acquiring a lovely shade of eggplant. Stefan Melekos required a double-wrapping of Revolutionary War-style head bandages.

Nkosi Graham had his wrist taped on the fly. And Nate Perrins finished the game looking like an endorsement model for KT sports tape.

It was that kind of night at Upper Merion High School for the District 1 Class 3A boys soccer final between Strath Haven and Holy Ghost Prep. So it’s only fitting that on a night of full-blooded challenges and unrestrained physicality, the difference was a moment of passivity by the Firebirds’ goalkeeper and the ruthlessness of Perrins to capitalize.

Perrins chased down a long ball that goalie TJ Butler was hoping to shepherd into the area and collect at the top of the 18-yard-box, tipped it away from him and buried into the net in overtime, sending Strath Haven to a 3-2 win.

“I saw the goalie kind of turn around and have his back to me,” Perrins said. “And I saw the ball, and I knew he wasn’t going to get there in time. So I knew I had the chance and I poked it through and I put it away.”

The goal was Perrins’ second of the night, joining a Gavin Birch volley and negating a pair of goals from Graham. The win not only hands top-seeded Holy Ghost Prep (19-1-1) its first loss of the season, but it earns the Panthers (13-6-2) their first district title since 2004. Both teams advance to the PIAA tournament.

Wainfan and Melekos provided the most apt portrait of the game 10 minutes into the second half. They collided on a 50/50 aerial ball, with both players the worse for wear – Wainfan keeping his bleeding under the skin, while Melekos’ gushed. Both benches alleged high elbows, and words were exchanged on the sidelines.

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Strath Haven’s Gavin Birch, left, and Nate Perrins celebrate the former’s second-half goal Thursday. Perrins scored the overtime game-winner in a 3-2 victory over Holy Ghost Prep in the District 1 Class 3A boys soccer final at Upper Merion High School. (For Digital First Media/Mikey Reeves