PHS handles Patriots, 5-1
By MATT LOCKE
Sports Writer
PARKERSBURG— Taylor Bryant’s hat trick plus one lifted Parkersburg High School
to a 5-1 victory over Parkersburg South at the Erickson All-Sports Facility on
Thursday night.
The defending state champion Big Reds (6-1) proved their title wasn’t a fluke
against a younger Patriot (1-3-2) squad by controlling the tempo of the rival
affair. The offensive power of Parkersburg’s front line proved too much for
South to handle and Bryant exemplified just that.
“When (Bryant)’s around the ball she’s gonna make things happen,” PHS coach
Mike Lockney said. “She was just on fire tonight.”
Bryant’s first goal for the Big Reds came just five minutes into the contest
when Katie Roberts placed a pass down the center of the field. The pass came
inside the box and the Patriot keeper was en route, but Bryant got there first
and placed the ball in the net off of keeper Sammy Hicks.
Hicks was tried several times in the first half, making five saves including a
couple of very close calls. Parkersburg just kept passing around the Patriot
defense securing nine shots on goal to the Patriots’ two.
“There have been other games when we played well, but I thought we used the
field really well and I thought we passed the ball well,” Lockney said.
Patriot forward Kelsey Watkins blasted one from just inside the box, but the
curving shot found the top post and the Big Reds remained in control.
Bryant was relentless. The Big Red forward’s second goal was a lofting shot
from the left side just past the 18. The shot looked wide, but found the right
corner with 7:41 to play in the half.
The Big Reds secured a 2-0 lead at the half and went to work early in the
second.
Three minutes in, Chelsey Maiden trapped the keeper in a one-on-one situation.
Maiden’s shot from point-blank range found the net and gave the Big Reds a 3-0
lead.
The three-goal advantage held until a Big Red infraction inside the box awarded
the Patriots a penalty kick with 26:15 remaining. Mackenzie Bourgeois placed
the ball on the upper shelf to close the gap to two.
The Big Reds kept pushing the ball upfield. Amelia Hammell, Elizabeth Lockney
and Brooke Logston were the keys in the Big Reds’ transition game, pushing the
ball to the edges and lobbing it into the box.
“There have been other games when we played well, but I thought we used the
field really well and I thought we passed the ball well,” Lockney said.
To complete the hat trick, Bryant scored her third goal with 13:24 showing when she lobbed the ball in from the left outside corner of the keeper box. The fourth
goal was a one-on-one with less than seven minutes to go.
“I was thinking I wish I could pass this one to my teammates, but I knew I had
the one-on-one so I just took the shot,” Bryant said of her fourth goal on the
night.
Though PHS secured the 5-1 victory, the defensive effort from the Patriot back
row thwarted several Big Red attacks. Bourgeois proved to be a tough obstacle
for the Big Reds to overcome.
“The goal tonight was to get out there and play hard and don’t get intimidated
by Parkersburg and they did that,” PSHS coach Mark Ashton said. “We’ll go back
to the drawing board and work on some things.”
The teams will meet two more times this season the first at Stadium field on
Sept. 19 and once again in the postseason. The Big Reds will host Huntington
with a 10 a.m. varsity start on Monday and the Patriots will host Morgantown on
Tuesday with the varsity game beginning at 7 p.m.
Contact Matt Locke at mlocke@newsandsentinel.com
Friday, August 31, 2007