Strath Haven, Wood meet again in state semifinals

The beauty — or, depending on your perspective, detriment — of the PIAA’s two-year accounting of classifications is déjà vu it inspires. In years 3 and 4 of the four-class setup in soccer, the brackets are identical. And when teams end up being similar, you have the echoes in a journey like Strath Haven’s.

For the second straight year, the Panthers will battle Archbishop Wood in a PIAA Class 3A semifinal Tuesday. This time around, Methacton will be the venue at 5 p.m.

A season ago, Strath Haven booked passage to Hershey by taking down Wood, 3-2, at West Chester East. Both opponents bear the same seeding as last year: Strath Haven the District 1 champ; Archbishop Wood the winner of District 12. The Panthers are fresh off a dominant performance against District 4 opposition, a 3-0 victory over Selinsgrove. Wood ended Holy Ghost Prep’s season for a second straight year, a 2-1 decision thanks to a second-half goal from All-Catholic midfielder Ryan Morgan.

For now, Strath Haven would favor things staying the same in the bracket choreography. But the Panthers (15-7-1) are so comprehensively different from the team that lost in last year’s final that the bracket similitude only goes so far. Last year, Haven trailed Wood, 2-0, before two goals from Nicky Palermo and the game-winner by Nate Perrins. Both have graduated; the game-winner for Perrins, who was the 2018 Daily Times Boys Soccer Player of the Year, was his 15th goal in six postseason matches.

This time around, the Panthers are younger and more balanced. In five playoff games, they have 10 goals from seven players (plus an own goal). Ethan Birch and Emmet Young lead the scoring with a humble two each.

“That’s the great thing about our team,” reserve winger Tim Wright said Saturday. “There’s goals everywhere around the team, in the second unit, in the first unit, the midfield helps out. We like to think that everyone can contribute in their owns ways, and it happened today.”

Against Selinsgrove, though Haven dominated play, the Seals had their moments. In particular, a stretch of pressure at the end of the first half resulted in several quality looks, but goalie Charlie Shankweiler provided three of his five saves for the game to get the Panthers into halftime scoreless.

“We can always rely on him,” defender Harris Hardy said. “Whether he makes one save or five saves, he always makes the saves.”

Wood faces a question in goal, with starter Eric Krause leaving Saturday’s game injured. Junior Shaine Kirby did a quality job in the starter’s stead.

One similarity that won’t carry over from last year is who awaits in the final. West Allegheny, which throttled Strath Haven in the final, 4-0, bowed out Saturday to Lower Dauphin. The Indians made that run last year as the runner-up in District 7, along the way toppling district champ Franklin Regional, which awaits Lower Dauphin Tuesday in Altoona.

Where the Panthers want things to be different is in the final, and Tuesday is required for the chance to rewrite history.

“We’re really confident,” Hardy said. “We actually think we can win states this year. … We’re just really confident going into the semifinals.”