PHS girls soccer bound for state

By MATT LOCKE

Friday, October 26, 2007

HUNTINGTON — The defending state champion Parkersburg High School girls slid past Winfield 1-0 to advance to the state tournament for the third straight year, while the two-time defending state champion Parkersburg boys were defeated by Hurricane 3-1 in the Region 4 finals at Huntington High School on Thursday.

A first-half goal by the Big Red girls (21-1-2) was enough to get them past Winfield (17-2-4), while the boys (20-3-1) were unable to defeat Hurricane (20-3-1) in the third meeting of the season.

Hurricane boys 3, Parkersburg 1

The third time was the charm for the Redskins Wednesday, who advance to the state tournament for the first time in Hurricane High School history. The last time the teams lined up, Hurricane scored the first goal and Parkersburg fired back with two of its own. This time, Hurricane reeled off three goals before the Big Reds could get their first.

Five minutes into the match, a Hurricane shot on goal was deflected and popped into the air. As PHS keeper Brent McGee tried to get in position, Redskin Brooks Paine got under the ball and headed it into the goal for the game’s first score.

The Big Reds had a hard time moving the ball on the watered-down field, but the Redskins were unhampered by the muddy terrain. Parkersburg still managed to secure shots, but getting them on the frame was tough.

Four minutes after scoring the first goal, Hurricane’s Cameron Keenan carried the ball the length of the field before crossing it to teammate Matthew Hale. Hale fired a shot that looked high, but hit the rounded crossbar and bounced into the back of the net.

The Big Reds kept pressuring, but the Redskins kept finding open space and moving the ball downfield. At the half, Hurricane held onto a 1-0 lead and Parkersburg still had hope. That is until Tomoki Suzuki got around defenders near the end line and sent a flick to Keenan, who fired the ball for the third goal.

“They played their hearts out on the field,” PHS coach Don Fosselman said. “Going down 1-0, I thought, ‘Well, we can get one.’ But at 2-0, we were hurting and at 3-0, it was an uphill battle from there.”

Parkersburg managed to score a goal when Cody Brown sent a cross to Kevin Wydri, who drilled it into the net. The problem was only four minutes remained in the match.

Hurricane conrolled the game play and adjusted better to the wet field. Its adjustments resulted in their first-ever state-tournament berth, while the Big Reds were denied entry to the state tournament for the first time since 2003.