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Big Reds held by Hurricane, 2-2

Photo by Matthew Hale Parkersburg’s Jack Johnson (17) battles Hurricane’s Ryan Fisher for the ball during a high school soccer match Thursday at Stadium Field. The match resulted in a 2-2 draw.

PARKERSBURG — The Big Red boys dominated the stats sheet Thursday night at Stadium Field, but Hurricane junior goalkeeper Dalton Burch and the Redskins defenders held on for a creditable 2-2 away draw.

Burch was in inspired form throughout the contest, and undoubtedly the man-of-the-match. He saved 13 Big Red shots – many dramatically – and claimed an almost innumerable number of balls into the Hurricane box.

“I can’t say enough about him tonight; he’s a player,” said Redskins head coach Jim Dagostine.

“We told him before the game he was going to be busy; Parkersburg puts a lot of pressure on you. But Dalton Burch is a very good keeper, and he’s going to keep getting better.”

In a physical match played at a breakneck pace, with the ball spending considerable amounts of time in the air, Hurricane took a shock lead in the fourth minute.

The Redskins’ Ryan Fisher played a hopeful long ball from his own half which the PHS defense allowed to bounce just outside the box. A surprised PHS goalie Jacob McKnight came out to attempt to claim it, but Hurricane forward Alik Assi nipped in front of him and nodded a delicate header over the keeper which landed in the 6-yard-box and trickled into the net.

It took the Big Reds only three minutes to equalize. Immanuel Opoko-Duah raced down the left wing past his marker and to the byline. He struck a low cross across the face of the goal, to which Parker Miller got a central touch, the ball bouncing to Austin Lewis at the far post. Lewis, ordinarily a defender, but playing in midfield at this time, nodded his downward header into the net.

PHS began to apply some heavy pressure on the break, with Miller and Opoko-Duah creating some dangerous chances, but a touch of good fortune put the Redskins back in the lead in the 19th minute.

Hurricane’s Fisher hit a well-struck 35-yard free kick which McKnight was forced to tip over for a corner. After a first Fisher corner was cleared, a second caused a goalmouth scramble which Opoko-Duah did well to put out for a throw. The ensuing long throw into the box – a much-repeated tactic by both sides – was only half-cleared, coming to midfielder Colton Jones outside the right side of the penalty area. Jones drove in a solid cross, to which Kyle Goodwin acrobatically got a foot, but the ball unluckily flew into the net past McKnight for an own goal.

PHS (10-3-3) equalized for the second time from a corner in the 26th minute. After Burch turned a Miller shot around the post, Matt Runyon stepped to the corner flag to work a bit of his set-piece magic. His excellent far-post corner was met by Teddy Hutson, whose volley arrowed into the back of the net. 2-2 was the halftime score.

Burch was the star of the second half, as the Big Reds dominated most of the possession, but the Redskins’ two-banks-of-four defending held solid. Sophomore left-back Chinedu Nnachi did especially well, defending hard and physically to corral PHS’ tricky wide players Murad Hamirami and Nathan Burd. Opoku-Duah and Runyon attempted to slide many potentially dangerous balls through the solid back line, but Burch was always alert.

Another Runyon corner led to a point-blank header for Miller in the 61st minute, but Burch denied him with a diving stop.

Two minutes later, hard work down the right side by Miller led to another corner. Runyon’s ball was only half-cleared, falling to Jack Johnson at the edge of the box. His hard shot took a deflection and cannoned off the bottom of the bar. In the 71st minute, Burch came out of his area well to blast the ball away from the menacing Opoku-Duah.

In the final minutes, both sides had chances to snatch the win. A slick move involving Opoku-Duah, Hutson and Miller ended with Opoku-Duah shooting from an acute angle from close range, but Burch once again was up to the challenge.

Hurricane had a chance to steal the victory against the run of play in the 78th minute, when Jones stepped up to take a free-kick 30 yards from the Big Red goal. He struck his shot sweetly and on-target, but McKnight was perfectly positioned to make the save.

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