PHS girls tie with George Washington, 1-1
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PARKERSBURG -- Despite being down a player for the final 33:57 of the match here Tuesday evening at Stadium Field, George Washington rallied for a 1-1 tie with host Parkersburg in Mountain State Athletic Conference action.
During first-half play, the Big Reds were able to put more pressure on the Patriots in the final 20-plus minutes.
GW keeper Shelby Tharp made a breakaway save in the 39th minute when she denied Jenna Carpenter, who had taken a through from Payton Harvey.
Following a yellow card on GW's Liza Westerman with 66 ticks left in the half, Carpenter sent a direct kick cross to the other side of the goal, but Harvey's attempt to guide the ball in off her chest went wide.
Harvey also had a through ball to Audriana Medina at the end of the 36th minute, but Tharp was there once again to make the save.
The Patriots (8-0-1) tried to go to work quick in the opening half. Milla Collias sent a pass to Madison Rothwell, who tried to get a shot on goal but Big Red defender Lauren McDonnell was there to thwart the attempt in the fifth minute.
GW was able to put a pair of shots on goal in the first half, but Kayleigh Rexroad turned away both Ava Trethewey and Deryn Doamekpor.
Westerman was removed from the contest following a red card and it didn't take long for first-year Big Red head coach Phil Wilson's program to find the back of the net.
A one-touch from Medina to Annie Mildren resulted in a 1-0 lead in the 54th minute.
Mildren was outside the right hash but still inside the box when she turned and fired a shot into the back half of the net on the far side as a leaping Tharp, who made six saves, had no chance.
GW continued to fight and finally managed to tie things up when Madison Rothwell sent a shot from the right side that just went inside the left post with 15:21 left in the match.
"We weren't looking ahead. They were the number one team in the state," said coach Wilson, whose team is now 5-1-3 and plays host at 7:30 p.m. Thursday to rival Parkersburg South. "We got to play them just like we got to play everyone else. I mean, we had it. We had it.
"Just a bad hiccup down there at the end. We just tied the number one team in the state. If that doesn't build confidence inside of our players I don't know what else they want. That's what we are trying to do, build that confidence up. I'm proud of them right now."
Rexroad finished with a quartet of saves.
PHS was unable to score on either of its corner kicks. It was the same for the Patriots, who had four in the second half.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com