Quick start ignites PHS girls soccer team

By MATT LOCKE, Sports Writer

PARKERSBURG— It took the Parkersburg High School girls soccer team 26 seconds to score its first goal in it’s 8-1 victory over South Charleston on Thursday night.

The win marked the Big Reds’ (12-1) ninth consecutive win of the season while South Charleston (4-4-1) evened out on the season.

Parkersburg was on the attack from the whistle. Chelsey Maiden secured a pass directly downfield to find Taylor Bryant, who took the ball past a line of defenders and chipped the ball over the top of the Black Eagle net-minder.

Bryant scored her second goal when she sailed a crossing pass and the ball slipped through Black Eagle goalie Mary Harper’s hand for the second goal with 24 minutes remaining in the half.

The second goal would have been enough, but the Big Reds continued to dominate offensively in the first half. Parkersburg controlled possession and moved the ball freely to find open spaces and take shots.

“I thought we looked a little sharper tonight than we have the last couple of games,” PHS coach Mike Lockney said.

South Charleston had a hard time keeping Bryant out of the equation when she successfully executed a give-and-go to Brooke Logston, who found the back of the net with 21:11 remaining in the first half.

The fourth goal was a pass from Katie Roberts to Tori Boggs inside the box and Boggs’ shot sailed over the Black Eagle goalie’s head. Alison Feathers found the back of the net with 11:31 remaining and Logston’s rebound goal was 1:23 later to give the Big Reds a 6-0 lead going into the half.

In the first half, the Big Reds secured 14 shots on goal to the Black Eagles’ two. Eight different Big Reds recorded either a goal or an assist against South Charleston, which says a lot about the depth of Parkersburg’s program.

Maiden, Boggs, Tori Wilson and Feathers each had a goal for the Big Reds while Bryant and Logston had two apiece. Alex Bush, Katie Roberts, Maiden and Brant each had an assist while Boggs added two assists for Parkersburg.

Bush set drove down the field to set up the Big Reds’ first goal of the second half. When the keeper came out to challenge, Bush beat her to the ball and lobbed a pass to Maiden who finished with the goal.

South Charleston got one back when Erin Clark let loose a shot from 35 yards out, the ball sailed high and came into the top right corner of the net with just under 22 minutes remaining in the game.

Boggs secured her second assist by driving to the corner and finding Wilson with a crossing pass to set the score at 8-1 with 14 minutes remaining.

Overall the Big Reds played their own game, controlled possession and worked for all 23 of their shots on goal.

“When you watch them move ball, it seems really easy, but they’ve gone through years of honing those skills so that they’re more comfortable with the ball,” Lockney continued.”The more comfortable they are with the ball the faster they can play.”

As the Big Reds continue to improve and perform, they look now to a match against rival Parkersburg South at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The Big Reds won the first meeting of the season, but last year the Patriots split regular season games.

“That’s always a hard game — there’s always a lot of emotion,” Lockney said of the rivalry. “South always comes to play, they play well and I look for it to be a good game.”

Contact Matt Locke at mlocke@newsandsentinel.com