Normington-Slay scores 4 goals, Perkins wins 5th straight SBC title

NORWALK — Perkins took the suspense out of its boys soccer match against Norwalk just seconds into Wednesday's game at Contractors Stadium. Titus Normington-Slay scored a goal 21 seconds into the match and the Pirates cruised to a dominating 8-0 win, clinching their fifth straight Sandusky Bay Conference title. "Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games, isn't that what they say?" Perkins coach Paul Lea said. "That's what Titus did today. That's what Kaden (Camp) and Ryan (Wells) did, and our back line made Danny's (goalkeeper Danny Buga) night very easy." Perkins improved to 14-0-2 overall and 10-0-1 in the SBC, tying Edison for the league title. By the end of Wednesday's match, everyone on the team had broken a sweat. "The boys always pride themselves on hurting teams to the point where we can get the other guys in the game, and that's exactly what we did today," Lea said. Normington-Slay finished with four goals — all in the first half — to bring his season total to 36, which is a Perkins single-season record. "He's been exceptional all year," Lea said. "The leap he's taken from last year is crazy. He showed what he can do and he's done it all season. He's so fun to watch. "I think everyone is so focused on Kaden (Camp) that people don't recognize Titus till it's too late, but he's definitely putting teams on notice." The smooth junior scored his second goal at the 23:09 mark of the first half. Normington-Slay added his third goal less than a minute later and gave Perkins a 5-0 lead 16:55 before halftime. His first goal set the tone. "We came out as hard as we could," Normington-Slay said. "Someone played it up down the line. I think it exposed them because they weren't expecting a through ball that early. I just cut it back in. "There were a lot of good assists. We kept the other team in check and I felt that we controlled the game." Camp, the leader of a huge senior class, scored two goals. He used his speed to blast one home at the 38:29 mark in the second half, triggering a running clock the rest of the way. Anthony Bonica added a laser from about 30 yards out midway through the second half and Wells finished the scoring with a penalty kick. Bonica added three assists. Normington-Slay, Wells and Camp each had one. Lea, who recorded his 100th career coaching win last Saturday, is now 102-38-6 in eight seasons at Perkins. The Pirates are 45-6-4 over the last three years. "We've hit our peak, that's for sure," Lea said. "With 12 seniors on our roster and everybody else seems to have graduated a lot, we've hit our peak. We just seem to be the right age at the right time." Norwalk fell to 10-6 overall and 9-2 in the SBC, good for third place in the conference. "We think Norwalk's probably the third-best team in the SBC," Lea said. "Before coach Matt (Williams) and I took over, that's the kind of results that would happen to Perkins. They would get beat by eight, nine goals a game and now we're doing that to just about everybody. "It's a lot of fun to be a part of and watch these guys and how they've grown." Perkins has outscored its opposition 129-16 this season. The Pirates finish the regular season at home Saturday against Lexington before hosting Toledo Central Catholic next Wednesday in their tournament opener. "Coach Paul came in here awhile ago and knew what he wanted to do," Normington-Slay said. "He does some stuff with club and he's such a good coach he makes those kids want to come to Perkins. You create a culture with people who love the sport, want to be good and play for him."