Irish down PHS girls
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PARKERSBURG -- A scheduling change for the Parkersburg Big Red girls meant they would be facing the Charleston Catholic Irish, instead of the originally-slated Morgantown Mohigans.
The Tuesday night match at Stadium Field was set, as the Irish took care of their hosts, 3-0.
The Big Reds were on the defensive for large portions of the entire match, and the first 10 minutes were no exception.
Keeper Isabel Lynch was on her toes in the fourth minute, as a laser of a shot by Elizabeth Rushworth was corraled.
However, the Big Reds couldn't get the ball up the field long enough to put together a scoring opportunity.
The team only had a single shot on goal thoughout the match, and that was a credit to a smothering defensive presence by the Irish.
A few more scoring threats for the Irish were halted by Lynch, but she could only hold them off for so long.
One minute after Lynch caught a free kick attempt, Charleston Catholic went back on the attack.
Good interior passing led to an open Bella Cinco, and she fired a shot in from close range in the 17th minute to open scoring.
Even though PHS had limited scoring chances, they had a prime chance just two minutes later.
When PHS had the ball throughout the contest, it was Madison Spears who had the best chances to convert.
In the 19th minute, she lined up for a free kick that barely sailed over the top CCHS crossbar.
Although the Irish couldn't connect on a couple scoring chances, they finally got another ball to find the back of the net.
Another fastbreak helped them get the ball in the open field, as Shannon Karr found Rushworth for another goal.
At the half, the 2-0 Irish lead meant the Big Reds weren't completely out of the match, but more defensive pressure in the second half seeled their fate.
One more goal from Spears closed this one out, as a shot sailing from right to left found the top left corner in the 62nd minute. The loss for the Big Reds (8-5-1) did give them experience against a quality opponent in the Irish (11-0-0), as head coach Brad Morris talked about the loss after it was over.
"Charleston Catholic, they're a good team," he said. "As a AA squad, there's nothing but quality from them as the top team in the state. We were originally supposed to be playing Morgantown, but there was kind of a miscommunication between ADs, but we were lucky enough that they (Charleston Catholic) were open."
The difficulty is dialed back a bit when coach Morris and the Big Reds travel at 6 p.m. on Friday to South Charleston to take on the Black Eagles.
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com