PARKERSBURG - Host Parkersburg High, ranked third in the state, took control of Tuesday night's boys soccer match versus Parkersburg South right from the start in posting a 4-0 win over the Patriots at Stadium Field to improve to 13-2-2 on the season.
South dropped to 7-6-2 with the loss and hosts Marietta at 7 p.m. today at the Erickson All-Sports Facility. while the Big Reds' next match is at noon Saturday against South Charleston at Stadium Field in the MSAC third-place game.
The initial six to seven minutes Thursday were played in South's end of the field with PHS on the offensive. However, the Big Reds didn't get a shot on goal until just over the 33rd-minute mark.
Article Photos
Photos by Jeff Baughan
Parkersburg's Zac Wilcoxen, center, kicks the ball away from South's Dillon Dowler during Tuesday's game at Stadium Field. Parkersburg scored a 4-0 win.
But then at 26:08 and 24:12, PHS notched a pair of goals in a span of less than two minutes with sophomore midfielders Hunter Hill and Tommy Logston respectively scoring for the Big Reds.
Hill's goal came after a shot on goal that hit the crossbar, dropped down and rolled away from the goalie with Hill Johnny-on-the-spot to kick the ball into the net. Then Logston drilled a ball in from 30 yards out front on the right past diving goalie Lincoln Morgan into the left side of the net.
With 12:31 left in the first half, the Patriots still had no shots on goal, and PHS tallied again at the 11:25 mark on a nifty give-and-go as Tyler Miller in the middle passed to the side to Hill, who got the ball back to Miller in the middle who put it in the goal for a 3-0 lead at the half.
And the Big Reds quickly upped the count to 4-0 with just 1:10 gone in the second half as Nick Payne recovered from having a kick blocked, beating the goalie to the ball to boot it in at 28:50.
''Ball possession was in our favor, and we just kept moving it around trying to find a seam or somewhere we could attack,'' said PHS head coach Don Fosselman about the first 10 minutes of the game. ''So I was hoping it was just a matter of time before we got one in, and then we got those two close together.''
It was a disappointing loss for South head coach Ed Ayers, whose team had only two shots on goal in the game.
''PHS is a good team; they had great ball movement,'' he said. ''We're having problems putting passes together. We've got some work to do yet; it's not over. It's tough to lose to them, but the better team tonight won.''
