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Wheeling Park boys shut down Parkersburg, 3-0

Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg’s Hank Hines and Wheeling Park’s Chris Romanek battle for the ball during Tuesday’s soccer match at Stadium Field. The visiting Patriots won 3-0.

PARKERSBURG — Zach Calvert worked a clean slate here Tuesday evening at Stadium Field and No. 5 Wheeling Park left town with a 3-0 boys soccer victory against No. 10 Parkersburg.

Just three seconds into the fourth minute, Patriot head man Mario Julian’s club took the lead for good when Louie Aulick headed in a cross by Andrew Glass.

Despite the best efforts of the Big Reds (10-5-2), the hosts couldn’t find the back of the net as WPHS improved to 12-3-1 with a home match Thursday versus Linsly.

“They’re good,” said PHS head coach Don Fosselman, whose team plays at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Shawnee Sports Complex against George Washington for third place in the Mountain State Athletic Conference. “For about 50 minutes, you couldn’t tell who was winning.

“I mean we dominated, but they are so good and so talented. They possessed the ball. Every person on that team has skill. I was very proud of our kids because they didn’t quit and they played hard the whole time. That’s the way we are going to have to win games.”

In the early going, Calvert made a diving stop on a shot by Anthony Perez which turned out to be just outside the post. Hank Hines sent a long through to Isaiah Owen in the 7th minute, but nothing materialized. Calvert was tested in the 10th minute when Perez struck a hard rocket on the ground, but the Patriot easily made the stop.

Big Red Kiran Patel sent one into the box in the 13th minute to no avail. Keegan Bush had a direct kick in the 18th minute which was headed just wide by Ashton Farnsworth.

PHS keeper Jacob McKnight made a nice play on a ball headed back to him by a teammate in the 19th minute. He managed to make a sliding scoop just before Vincent Bauer had a chance to make a play.

Parkersburg, which trailed 1-0 at the break, watched Brendon Whitlatch’s shot go wide in the 27th minute as well as a cross in the 30th minute by Tanner Stauffer go for naught.

With less than 3 minutes left before intermission, WPHS had a good look from James Hofmann, but he couldn’t put the shot on goal.

The Big Reds continued to attack to open the second half. After taking a cross from Caden Rogers, Owen tried to get the ball to Farnsworth via a heel kick, but once again the Wheeling Park defense was too strong. Rogers also had nice touch to Owen early in the second half, but Owen’s cross in front of the net just missed connecting with Perez for a one-touch.

McKnight made a save on Cole Meredith’s direct kick in the 44th minute and Perez was denied a tally a minute later when WPHS defender Philip White was in the right place at the right time to save the day and what would’ve been a 1-all tie.

PHS continued to battle and had a pair of chances in the 50th and 54th minutes, respectively. A Rogers pass to Sammy Potts resulted in a shot on goal and then Potts tried to chip a pass to Hines, but it wasn’t to be.

After Jason Pennybacker had an open net look near the sideline and couldn’t score in the 57th minute, WPHS went ahead 2-0 when Michael Dague finished from a Chris Romanek assist.

Following a Meredith corner, which the Big Reds weren’t able to boot out of their own end, Hofmann made it 3-0 in the 64th minute.

Potts had another solid chance in the 73rd minute, but his shot sailed just high. Jamie Couch also had a late shot for the red and white, but WPHS handed the hosts their third loss via shutout on the campaign.

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