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Taylor-made

South blanks PHS, 5-0

Photo by Ron Johnston Parkersburg South’s Charley Taylor (19) battles Parkersburg’s Sarah Moise (14) for the ball during season opening soccer action at Erickson Friday night. South won 5-0.

PARKERSBURG — Charley Taylor had a pretty productive offensive outing.

The Parkersburg South senior striker scored two goals and had two assists as the Patriots blanked visiting Parkersburg High, 5-0, in a season opening girls’ soccer match Friday night at the Erickson All-Sports Facilty.

“I don’t score two goals often,” Taylor said. “I might have done it once last season.”

South (1-0) also got goals from freshman Samara Nunn, senior Riley Pigott, and sophomore Ellie Foggin. Jessie Life, Hannah Habeb, and Nunn each had an assist.

And, sophomore goalkeeper Kendall Mader was credited with a clean sheet.

“We were pretty sharp in the preseason,” Taylor said. “I’m just really proud of them, because we performed the way I expected. We were clicking. We were connected. And we were always there finishing. I’m really excited for the season.”

Other than a couple of free kicks over the crossbar by sophomore Madison Spears, PHS never really had a serious scoring threat. But, between the pipes, Big Reds keeper Sophie Thompson was solid with 10 saves, including catching a point-blank Patriot shot late in the second half.

The crossbar also turned away another South shot.

“My impression of this game is that South is a good team,” said first-year PHS boss Brad Morris. “They have a lot of upperclassmen. They’ve got good leadership. They’ve got, I think, seven captains, and they all contribute on the field — and they play tough and physical as a team.”

South staked itself to a 1-0 advantage in the sixth minute of play when Nunn scored her first varsity goal off a rebound. Taylor got the assist.

A couple of minutes later, the Patriots made it 2-0 on Taylor’s score and Nunn’s assist. Thompson actually got a hand on Taylor’s shot but the ball still went into the goal.

About a minute before the half, Pigot scored with Life assisting to make it 3-0.

“Finishing is the toughest thing in soccer,” said PSHS coach Ron Bucholtz. “I mean, putting the ball in the back of the net is one of the toughest things to do.

“We had some good chances, but she (Thompson) made some good saves on us. Parkersburg’s a young team, and they’re better than they were last year. Brad Morris is going to do a good job with them.”

Early in the second half, Foggin got a score off a deflection to stretch the Patriot lead to 4-0.

Then, with a minute remaining, Taylor put an exclamation mark on the match with her second goal. Habeb got the assist.

“I’m very pleased,” Bucholtz said. “The practices have been solid so far, and a couple of scrimmages went really well. And, we’re strong from the goalkeeper all the way to the forward line. Plus, we have some good reserves. I’m proud of the way the girls played.”

As for the Big Reds, all they can do is regroup — and plus, there’s a lot of season left.

“I think overall size and experience kind of trumped over what we’ve got going on right now,” Morris said. “Technically, we passed the ball really well. We just didn’t have enough shots on goal.”

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