PHS girls fall short
By
BECKLEY— The defending state
champion Parkersburg High School girls soccer team came out on the losing end
of one of the greatest soccer matches in state tournament history in a 2-1
shootout loss to Jefferson on Saturday.
In the state final at the YMCA Sports complex in Beckley, after two overtime
periods yielded a 1-1 tie, both Parkersburg (21-2-3) and Jefferson (16-1-2)
scored on 12 consecutive penalty kicks before Cougar keeper Sarah Cooper came
up with the shootout’s only save.
Both Big Red keeper Kelsey Graham and Cooper had opportunities to end the
shootout. On the seventh kick, Cooper got a hand on Elizabeth Lockney’s shot to
the right side and on the 10th try, Graham blocked Kaitlyn Mahoney’s shot, but
both attempts found the net.
After 10 kicks, the same players prepared for another round. Parkersburg’s
Brooke Logston took her first shot to the upper left
corner, but on the second try, Cooper made a diving save, giving Jefferson the
opportunity to take the title.
Heather Shafer placed her second try high inside the left post to secure
“It was a classic championship game, it just didn’t go our way,” PHS coach Mike
Lockney said. “We played as hard and as well as we could have played for 110
minutes.”
The teams couldn’t be more evenly matched and much like the Big Reds semifinal
match, the midfield was the battleground. After a direct kick from the foot of
Bush drove to the center of the field and fired a shot over Cooper’s head to
give the Big Reds a 1-0 lead in the 28th minute. The Big Reds didn’t allow the
Cougars to fire a single shot on goal in the first half, but in the second half
the Cougars made good on one of two attempts.
With 16 minutes remaining in regulation, the Cougars breached the Big Reds’
keeper box and Jenny Perry sent the ball to her sister Katie, who one-touched
the ball out of the reach of Graham to knot the score at one.
The Big Reds cranked up the heat in the remaining minutes, using the Cougars’
goal as motivation for their own. The Big Reds attacked the net, setting up
several scoring opportunities, but this time the ball couldn’t find the net.
Throughout both overtime periods the Big Reds continued to attack, but shots
from Chelsey Maiden, Alex Bush and Elizabeth Lockney
sailed high or wide.
“What a tough game to lose, I thought we played well,” Lockney said. “I thought
we created a lot of chances and we had some good shots — they just didn’t fall.
The Big Reds lost its last game on Aug. 23 and carried a 20-game non-losing
streak into Saturday’s game. After winning the regional final match and state
semifinal match 1-0, a third consecutive 1-0 wasn’t enough to earn the Big Reds
their second consecutive state title.
The Big Reds will have to rebuild a defense to make another title run in 2008.
For Big Reds seniors Graham, Megan Hurley, Tara Cheeseman,
Amelia Hammell and Katie Roberts, three consecutive
trips to the state final match and a 2006 state title will have to be enough.