Local Sports

Patriot booters honored

Three South girls named to soccer’s Class AAA All-State first team

CLARKSBURG -- Wheeling Park defeated Parkersburg South, 1-0, in a clash of titans in the Class AAA girls soccer state championship game.

So, it's not a surprise that both teams are well-represented on the West Virginia Sports Writers Association's Class AAA all-state teams, released on Thursday.

Wheeling Park's Graceylyn Hanna captains the first team after finishing the season with 15 goals and 27 assists.

Forward Merritt Delk (28 goals, nine assists) and defender Lily Hanna (four goals, six assists) also represent the 19-2 state champions.

For Parkersburg South, which finished with a 19-1 mark, midfielder Samara Nunn (23 goals and nine assists), defender Riley Shockey (one goal) and goalkeeper Kendal Mader are first-teamers, while midfielder Ellie Foggin (three goals, seven assists) captains the second team.

"They all played pivotal roles," head coach Ron Bucholtz said of his quartet. "Our top nine players could have started for any team in the state."

Nunn, who led the team in goals for the second year in a row, consistently came up big on the offensive end for the Patriots. Her goals against PHS in the sectional final and Cabell Midland in the regional final sent the Patriots to the state tournament.

That all-around high effort drew high praise from Bucholtz.

"She is an all-around high quality player with high skill, a great work ethic, and she frightens the bejesus out of everyone who plays us," he said.

Mader, who now owns the state record for goals against average in a single season wiht a 0.10 GAA, showed she was one of the best goal keepers every time on the field. "Any time she had to make a save besides the two she couldn't do anything about, she did it," Bucholtz said.

Shockey, according to her coach, made the defensive line and shut down some of the top players in the state. Neither Cabell Midland's Olivia Charles nor Wheeling Park's Merritt Delk found much of anything when playing the Patriots.

"If people thought Samara had a great work ethic, Riley makes her look like an amateur. She is tough as nails and tenacious for 80 minutes," Bucholtz said.

Ohio Valley Athletic Conference player of the year Foggin "made a great leader in the middle of the field with some of the best skills, vision and creativity in the state," he said. "Game in and game out she was consistently our best player and without Ellie leading the team as a senior we wouldn't have been as successful."

Bridgeport, which was knocked off by Wheeling Park in the regional final for its only loss of the season, placed forward Braelynne Sandreth (21 goals, six assists) and midfielder Allison Bender (five goals, six assists) on the first team.

Joining Sandreth and Delk on the first-team front line are Charles (24 goals, nine assists) and John Marshall's Zara Zervos (32 goals).

Greenbrier East's Emma Dotson (13 goals, seven assists) is also in the midfield.

Hurricane's Abby Fowler and George Washington's Reagan Bromiley round out the first-team defense, while GW's Mary Lyle Smith is a first-team goalkeeper.

Utility spots went to Martinsburg's Emily Beck (14 goals, two assists) and GW's Kalissa Lacy (16 goals, 11 assists).

(Joe Albright contributed to this story.)