PARKERSBURG - Junior Connie Chefren scored twice and assisted on Parkersburg High's two other goals as the host Big Red girls soccer team bested Warren 4-1 Tuesday night at Stadium Field, handing the Warriors their first loss of the season.
PHS, now 6-2-2, plays a varsity-only match at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Ripley. Warren, now 5-1, also plays Thursday, hosting Jackson at 5 p.m. in another varsity-only match.
The Big Reds got off to a quick start in each half to secure the win. Just 1:57 into the game, Taylor Hunkele scored from the left side off an assist from Chefren, and PHS goalie Taylor Beckley made three saves in the final 7:46 of the half to keep the Big Reds ahead 1-0 at intermission.
Article Photos
Parkersburg goalie Taylor Beckley stops a shot as Warren's Raelyn Gardner slides into her Tuesday. Parkersburg scored a 4-1 victory. (Photo by Jeff Baughan)
In the second half though, PHS took control with two goals in the initial 5:29. After Allie Roberts found Chefren in the middle in front of the goal with a pass, Chefren got around her defender for a kick past the goalie and into the net at 37:44.
Then just over three minutes later at the 34:31 mark, Abby Johnson, off a Chefren assist, maneuvered on the left side to put the ball in the opposite side of the net for a 3-0 advantage.
Warren had a shot on goal clang off the crossbar at 26:31 before Chefren got a kick into the goal, booting a shot up and over the keeper's head that glanced off her hands and dropped down into the net with 10:38 to play.
The Warriors avoided a shutout with only 1:22 remaining when Raeli Barnes headed a ball into the goal.
PHS head coach Kristen Schreiber said scoring early in each half ''is always a plus. As a coach, you're always telling your kids that the first five or 10 minutes, you really want to go at 'em and get that goal to kind of get them pushed back a little bit.''
She added too that ''we played really well tonight,'' although ''they found some gaps for shots late in the half, but we tightened up in the second half.''
On Chefren, Schreiber said, ''She's a good player and when she works hard off the ball, she can beat anybody in the state - she's that good, When she works hard, it's hard to shut her down.''
Warren head coach Ekrem Eksi said, ''It took us 20 to 25 minutes tonight before we started playing our game. The last 15 minutes of the first half, we started playing pretty good with pressure and then we had opportunities. But in the second half, their goal came quick again and before I started making some changes, their third goal came and that took a lot from us.''
