Strath Haven ignores recent history, conquers Athens

Strath Haven coach Ryan O’Neill was aware of the numbers Saturday. He knew that the Panthers’ opponent in the PIAA Class 3A quarterfinals, District 4 champion Athens, had scored 114 goals in 21 contests, had won its last three regular-season games by a combined score of 31-0 and had allowed all of five goals all season.

But he also knew how hard it was to translate results against opposition like Corning-Painted Post, the team from New York that handed Athens its only loss. And O’Neill wasn’t going to let awe of an opponent intimidate his District 1 champs.

So the 5-1 win that the Panthers rolled up may have seemed shocking in the context of Athens’ season, but not to the Panthers.

“We knew the details of 114 for and five against,” O’Neill said. “But it’s always hard to read when they’re from a place that’s so far away that it’s hard to know. It’s difficult when there’s no commonality at all. … We respected the fact that they hadn’t given up a lot of goals, but at the same time, we figured that the experience that we have and all the things that we’ve gone through would be a pretty good thing for us.”

Nate Perrins scored twice in the first half, his 13th and 14th goals in five games of a fearsome postseason. The Panthers led 2-0 at halftime, with the wind at their back at gusty Hazleton High. But there was still some apprehension as to how that would translate into the wind.

“Is two enough?,” O’Neill said of the thought process. “When this flips and it goes around in the second half, are they going to be at our throats the whole time? It’s good going up two goals and being in at half up two goals, but you don’t know how it’s going to look in the second.”

Jake Zweier put O’Neill’s mind at ease with a quick third goal to open the half. Athens would get one back on a penalty kick, tucking away the rebound after Noah Atsaves (eight saves) denied the spot kick.

But Strath Haven continued to pour forward. Gavin Birch, who set up a Perrins’ tally, used his speed to draw a penalty and converted from the spot, then tacked on an insurance tally late. Zweier added an assist, as did Andrew Lowman and Emmett Young.

The Panthers advance to take on District 12 champion Archbishop Wood in Tuesday’s semifinal at a site and time to be determined. Wood prevented the Panthers from getting a District 1 rematch with Holy Ghost Prep via a 3-1 victory over the Firebirds Saturday.