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Williamstown ’Jackets fall in regional final

Williamstown’s Sydney Hill, left, battles Winfield’s Grace Cole for the ball during a Class A, Region IV championship soccer match Tuesday in St. Marys. Photo by Ron Johnston.

ST. MARYS, W.Va. — Williamstown High played top-ranked Winfield High tough in the first half.

But after the break, it was all Generals as they defeated the Yellowjackets, 6-1, in a Class AA/A regional girls’ soccer final at St. Marys High Tuesday night.

“Winfield’s the best (girls) team in the state in all classes,” said Williamstown coach Jason Hill. “They could probably beat quite a few of the boys’ teams. They’ve got college players over there.

“We matched up pretty well, and we made them pucker pretty good for awhile.”

With the victory, Winfield, 20-2-0 on the season, advances the to state tournament in Beckley. Senior Mary Lawman led the Generals with a second-half hat trick, while senior Claire Miller added two goals, and senior Carly Miller had one score.

“I definitely could not have done that (hat trick) without the team surrounding me,” said Lawman, a Marshall University recruit.

Winfield freshman keeper Emily Hudson finished with three saves.

Williamstown finished fourth-ranked with a 14-2-6 mark.  Its lone goal came on a penalty kick by senior Sydney Hill.

Yellowjacket senior Victoria Buckley, filling in for injured goalie Aubrey Yeager, was credited with 13 saves.

“I knew they (Generals) were a very good team,” Buckley said. “They were very quick and knew where the weak spots were. We watched a little bit of film on them, trying to know where their good players are. Of course, they’re defending champs.

“I didn’t know there were going to be that many shots (29), though. That was a lot of shots.”

Early on, Williamstown’s Ellie Gardner went on the attack, and was fouled in the penalty box by Winfield defender Grace Cole. On the ensuing penalty-kick attempt, Hill blasted the ball into the left corner of the net for a 1-0 Yellowjacket lead. Hudson did manage to get a hand on the PK but to no avail.

“That certainly was a wake-up call,” said Lawman, a Marshall University recruit. “But I think our team has like a special little something about us that if we’re down, we don’t get down. We have a positive attitude. We always just work hard until the last buzzer sounds.

“We haven’t trailed that much this season. But the games that we do trail, we work just as hard to get those goals back.”

Winfield then went on the offensive, and gave Buckley an old-fashioned workout between the pipes. Time and time again, she mades saves and turned away General shots.

“Unbelievable, I’m very, very proud of her,” Jason Hill said. “Obviously, she’s just been playing (goalie) for two games, now. And, she gets my Goalkeeper of the Year with her play and some of the saves she made in the first half. I give her a ton of credit.

“That game would’ve been way out of control in the first half if she didn’t make some of those big saves. She kept us in the game.”

But during the 23rd minute of action, Winfield finally got the equalizer on Carly Miller’s rebound goal. Just before she scored, Buckley made a spectacular save on point-blank shot by a General. Miller, though, was johnny-on-the spot for the putback into the back of the net.

At halftime, it was 1-1.

“We were riding on our defense, and living through some tough plays in the first half,” Hill said. “We were getting really pressed.

“We needed to switch the fields in the second half, and we didn’t do that. We were real fortunate to draw the foul in the box and get the 1-1 tie at halftime.”

After the break, Lawman scored the go-ahead goal in the 50th minute, and that seemed to open up the floodgates for Winfield. Before the end of the match, Claire Miller and Lawman each beat Buckley with two goals apiece, and the Generals won going away.

“The time went on, and their players and their flick-ons and their speed…and our fitness was a little tough at the end,” Hill said. “I wasn’t able to get as many reserves in as I probably needed to and wanted to.”

Playing their last prep match on the maroon and gold pitch were seniors’ Sydney Palmer, Lexie Zide, Jensen Newton, Aubrey Teer, Ashley Morris, Ally McMullen, Lindsay Stanley, Sydney Hill, Yeager, Gardner, and Buckley.

“It’s a little upsetting now that we’re done,” Buckley said. “It was a great season, and amazing for all of us.”

Added Jason Hill, “It was an unbelievable season.That’s our first loss to a West Virginia team this year. This team has nothing to hang their heads about.”

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