Strath Haven repeats on Young’s penalty kick

PHOENIXVILLE — The venue was different. The score was different. The number of the Strath Haven player running jubilantly toward an exultant spectator’s section in overtime was different.

But if you were wearing Holy Ghost Prep blue, you’d be forgiven for a creeping sense of déjà vu.

Two straight seasons, Strath Haven and Holy Ghost have meet in the District 1 Class 3A final — the Firebirds as favorites, the Panthers as underdogs. Twice, the teams have battled through rough-and-tumble, 80-minute scraps to survive to overtime.

And twice, it’s been a player in Panthers’ white left to sprint to the sidelines and wait for his team to mob him in celebration.

Emmet Young did the honors Wednesday, his penalty kick in the 83rd minute leading fourth seed Strath Haven to a 2-1 win over No. 3 Holy Ghost and a second consecutive District 1 championship.

Young’s trip to the penalty spot traced all the way back to the end of regulation, from the aftermath of Zach Posivak’s equalizer with 19 seconds left. But the proximate cause was Haven striker Peter Boerth getting hauled down in the penalty area and the referee pointing resolutely to the spot.

Young stepped to the kick and hammered his attempt right down the middle. With Holy Ghost goalie T.J. Butler diving to his left, he could only kick back at air as Young dashed to pick a spot for the dogpile.

“It’s just like it’s any other kick,” Young said. “It’s a penalty. It’s not like it’s too nerve-wracking, but of course it’s a little bit nerve-wracking. So I said a little prayer, and I just did it, like any normal PK.”

Emmet Young wins it!!!!
Haven 2, Holy Ghost Prep 1. OT pic.twitter.com/XurLyuV97g

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 31, 2019

It’s not the first penalty that Young lined up on the day: The Panthers were awarded a spot kick in the 14th minute when Andrew Lowman was felled by an iffy-looking foul in the box. Young had placed the ball and Butler had retreated to his line when the referees conferred and abruptly reversed the decision.

It mattered little to Young’s pre-kick routine. He’s one of the few who likes to shoot down the middle, and Butler would’ve had to stand stock still to have any chance.

Back to the goal that sent the teams to the extra session. Holy Ghost was in full desperation mode, with a corner kick taken with under 60 seconds to play cleared out. Butler, who’d come up for the set piece, went back to collect and found Stefen Melekos to the left wing. The Firebirds’ most dangerous player all night, Melekos played a teasing ball across the face of goal inside the six that swerved perfectly to the foot of Posivak, making the heady run from his right-back spot to the far post. He held his nerve and roofed the ball, leaving goalie Charlie Shankweiler no chance.

It was one of the few instances all night in which Melekos shook the blanketed hold from the backline of J.T. Holstein, Luigi Malo, Harris Hardy and Simon Bollinger, and he made the Panthers pay for it.

“I tried to keep him away from the goal,” right back Holstein said. “It’s really hard. He was fast, he had good footwork. But I kept it under control. … He’s going to be dangerous if you give him open space. He’s going to be dangerous like he showed on that one counterattack, that he got us.”

But the goal came at a cost. In the aftermath, starting center back Brendan Monaghan had to be helped off the field after suffering a couple of hard falls. Midfielder Anthony Colon also spent time on the sidelines for Holy Ghost.

It took only three minutes for Boerth to draw the penalty, wrapped up in the box by Monaghan’s partner, Joseph Reteneller.

The regroup performed in the huddle was something special for the Panthers, a reminder of the past and just a hint of self-deception.

“We’re not going to let up,” Young said. “We’ve got this, we’re going to keep going, keep pushing, we’re better than them. I mean, they’re a great team, but we had to say we’re better than them to get more confidence. It was a very even game, but we had to hype ourselves up. The whole team was like, we’ve got this. We know we can come back from this.”

They advanced to the final with an upset of top-seeded Bishop Shanahan Saturday, a game they trailed into the 78th minute. Reserve forward John Francis had the winner that day, with Ethan Birch sending it to the extra session.

Wednesday, another forward who doesn’t start stepped up: Quinn Vandellos, who headed home a Young cross in the 64th to set up the tense ending.

“Emmet played a really good ball,” Vandellos said. “I went up for it. As soon as my head was about to hit it, I closed my eyes, it went in the goal, I heard the cheers and I was just so happy.”

Wednesday’s Strath Haven team is much different than the one that lifted the trophy in 2018. Gone are a number of starters, including 2018 Daily Times Player of the Year Nate Perrins.

But since that win — a 3-2 decision, clinched by Perrins, at Upper Merion — the Panthers program has won three states games, orchestrated an on-the-fly reloading and managed the escape from Shanahan.

So as they, in the words of Holstein, “got their gold back,” there was both an understanding of what they were capable of and a chance to make their own marks on the program.

“It’s a district championship. I’m as happy as I can be,” Young said. “And this is my last district championship, so this might mean a littl