[Sport] South girls eyeing the big prize

[King_of_lion]

PARKERSBURG — After finally battling its way to the Class AAA state tournament following four years of tough breaks, there is still work left to be done for Parkersburg South’s girls soccer team.
Even if it is hard to believe for some of the Patriots.

“I still have to remind myself that we made it past regionals,” midfielder/defender Sam Martin said. “But now it is such a huge sense of relief. We have been working so hard to get past the regional level that now, no matter what happens, we are all happy and excited it is just going to be a cool experience to go down to Beckley and see what happens.”

If Martin and company score two more wins then what happens would be the Patriots’ second state championship victory in program history.

“It (the title) is definitely our biggest goal to accomplish as seniors and for anyone on this team,” goalie Kendall Mader said.

With a defense that has only allowed one goal all season and a significant weight gone from its collective shoulders, the blue and white with a touch of red potentially open state tournament play against Jefferson at 4 p.m. today at Cline Field at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex.

It is only hypothetical at this point as the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission is currently fighting a successful suit from a Martinsburg girls soccer player that halted the Class AAA portion of the tournament.

Should the Patriots face the Cougars as scheduled, they are more than ready.

Thanks to several trips to Ripley High School to work on the turf, all the players are “thoroughly” prepared for the playing surface. Not to mention their confidence is through the roof, according to Mader.

“I believe we were very deserving of the No. 1 seed. I mean it is still going to be a tough competition and not a cake walk whatsoever. There are always going to be a little bit of nerves but we have the confidence, the skill and the talent on this team that we will come out on top anyways,” Mader said.

“I feel as a team we work really well together and we are really good at possession. So if we continue that at states we will do really well,” Ellie Foggin said.

Parkersburg South head coach Ron Bucholtz believes the turf gives his Patriots an advantage in their ball hawking game. “We can control the ball better and it actually plays well into some of our speed burners so they can use their speed more efficiently on the turf,” he said.

What awaits the Patriots is a Cougar team a little extra rested after Martinsburg couldn’t play in the regional tournament. Berkeley County being orange on the COVID-19 map proved to be the roadblock prohibiting the Bulldogs from taking their shot at advancing.

Leading the team is program alumnus, Heather Shaffer, who played on Jefferson’s only other state tournament team in 2007. Commanding her forces on the field are leading scorers Ellie Cunningham and second leading scorer and top assist lady Hailey Dillow. Dillow proved the hero of the 3-2 sectional final win over Washington with her golden goal in double overtime.

This could be the first meeting between the two schools.

“I don’t know if we have ever played Jefferson. But there is always a quality team that comes out of the Eastern Panhandle. And Jefferson has always been a competitive team. They are going to be a good opponent and they are in the same boat as everyone else. Their chances are the same as everyone else at 25 percent. That is why we play the game on the field and not on paper,” Bucholtz said.

“You could say maybe we have the better draw but you never know. I am sure they aren’t going to come out and just play scared or passive. They are going to want to come out and take advantage of their opportunities. They are going to want to be the ones that want to knock us off.”

Particularly, the Cougars are going to have to find a way to get past the Patriots’ stout defense and force Mader’s hand in net. Bucholtz and company are well aware of the havoc their unit could cause over the final two contests of the season.

“The old adage is defense wins championships and we have shown we have a solid defense,” he said. “GW, Park, Jefferson all have good offensive attacks. If we play smartly and sharply and play with discipline and really swarm and play as a team defensively then yeah we can keep people at bay. But at this point also you want to try and hopefully generate some offense and put some balls in the back of the net so you don’t have to solely rely on a solid defensive performance. I suspect our defense will certainly keep us in games. We just need to make sure we generate some offense and find the net with our shot.”