Upper Merion outlasts Perkiomen Valley 1-0 for first PAC boys soccer championship

BUCKTOWN >> The two halves of the Pioneer Athletic Conference boys soccer championship between Upper Merion and Perkiomen Valley played out in unusually similar ways.

For Upper Merion, the first half was 39 minutes leading to last-minute rejoicing. The second half was 39 minutes leading to last-minute relief.

Relief quickly turned to revelry as Upper Merion closed out a 1-0 victory over Perkiomen Valley at Owen J. Roberts to capture its first PAC title in program history.

Upper Merion’s Arjun Kaushik celebrates after scoring a goal late in the first half during the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Upper Merion poses with the PAC championship plaque after winning the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

Senior captain Arjun Kaushik scored on his own rebound in the final minute of the first half to put the Frontier Division champions on top in the 40th minute. The second half played out in similar fashion with two teams that only know two playing tempos – fast and faster – going blow for blow.

Upper Merion was nearly to the finish line, successfully hanging on to its lead until Perk Valley’s Nate Brown was fouled in the penalty area with 42.1 seconds remaining, giving Perk Valley a potential lifeline.

The penalty kick sailed high from PV’s striker, agony for one set of Vikings, euphoria for the other.

“It’s the first time Upper Merion’s ever won the PAC championship for soccer so we’re feeling amazing,” Upper Merion senior center back Aidan McDonnell said.

Upper Merion head coach Dave Lawrence and Sander Urias celebrate afer winning the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

“We saw in the article that Perk Valley had won it four times. We’d never won it. We hadn’t even made it to the finals one time. So this was huge,” Kaushik said. “We were already in the history books by making it to the final, and now we’ve won it to just keeping adding onto the history making.”

Beyond it being Upper Merion’s first PAC title, they’re just the third smaller-school division team to claim the title in the Final Four era (since 2005), joining only Lansdale Catholic in 2005 and Phoenixville in 2017.

Upper Merion captains Aidan McDonnell, left, Josh Nguyen, center, and Arjun Kaushik pose with the PAC championship plaque after winning the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

That framing coupled with an opponent like Perk Valley (18-2), which entered 18-1, would make Thursday’s result seem like a major upset.

It was not, their regular season meeting (a 2-1 win by PV on a last-minute winner) and Upper Merion riding a 10-game winning streak serving as proof.

It’s 5-5 record through 10 games felt like ancient history by the end of Thursday night.

“5-5 in the beginning was not what we wanted. As captains we knew that we had so much potential and we had to turn it on,” Kaushik said.

Perkiomen Valley’s Nate Brown, right, and Upper Merion’s Luke Wintersteen track the ball during the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)
Upper Merion’s Arjun Kaushik, right, wins a header against Perkiomen Valley’s Owen Baker during the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

Upper Merion had been doing it with a high-octane offense led by Kaushik, Ben Wintersteen, Sander Urias and Nick Dos Santos.

It showed it can do it another way in the final with a strong defensive performance led by center backs McDonnell and Sean Rogers who had their hands full with PV’s Brown, plus outside backs Koshis Gurung and Liam Kane in support of goalkeeper Dominik Doan.

The workrate of midfielders Dos Santos, senior captain Josh Nguyen and junior Luke WIntersteen was crucial to shorting PV’s time on the ball and denying the supply to the attack.

“We didn’t give them much space on the ball. We were really all over the place with defense and just crowding in their space,” Nguyen said.

“That’s our playing style. We don’t want to park the bus. We want to go out, our midfield is hungry, our whole team is hungry,” Kaushik said.

Upper Merion defender Aidan McDonnell celebrates in the final minute of the PAC boys soccer championship on Oct. 19 at Owen J. Roberts. (Austin Hertzog – MediaNews Group)

The game’s lone goal came in the final minute of the first half after a defensive lapse by PV led to a throw in on the right side in the PV half. Urias and Dos Santos quickly combined and got the ball to Kaushik on the left side in the penalty area.

“Nick and Sander always link up in the middle. He played the ball with his weaker foot and I was screaming for the ball on the left side because I’d positioned myself between the right back and center back,” Kaushik said. “He touches it to me, it skipped past so I had to hit a half-volley. My momentum kept taking me forward and it was quite a powerful shot so there was no way (the goalie) was going to catch it. I kept going and just tapped it in.”

UM was strong as frontrunners, generating the best chances of the second half. A Ben Wintersteen far-post blast from the right side required a smart save from PV keeper Aidan Autovino with 13:37 to play. Two minutes later, Autovino had the save of the game on a Rogers header from a corner kick with 11:50 to go. PV’s Lawson Finger had a decent look on a one-timer with 9:57 left but its chances were relatively few with UM willing to scrap and clear big with the lead in its pocket.

When the penalty was awarded with 42.1 seconds to play – the offending McDonnell agreed it was the correct decision – players from both teams dropped to the deck in disbelief.

Improbably, fortune smiled upon Upper Merion and it became champions.

“It was a lot for us as captains leading the team. Since we hadn’t won it ever, it’s an honor and feels good to be here and win it all,” Nguyen said.

Both teams have plenty more to play for. Perkiomen Valley is the No. 2 seed in District 1-4A and will receive an opening-round bye, beginning their postseason run Oct. 26. Upper Merion sits at No. 16 in 4A and will open district play on Tuesday, Oct. 24.

“Starting the year the way we did, it feels amazing to end it this way. In the beginning of the year I didn’t think we were going to make the PAC playoffs, but to end it this way is amazing,” McDonnell said.