Parkersburg South's Kyrstin Boso (26) battles with Washington's Izzy Spurlock (21) for possession of the ball during Thursday's state semifinal match in Beckley. (Photo by Nick Henthorn)

BECKLEY – Parkersburg South couldn’t muster the offense needed to stack up against Jurnee Vrobel and Washington during a Patriots mirror match Thursday in the Class AAA girls soccer state semifinals at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex.

Vrobel recorded a hat trick while Parkersburg South was kept off the scoreboard in a 3-0 triumph for No. 3 Washington, who will face No. 4 George Washington in the championship game Saturday.

It was the conclusion of a season that Parkersburg South head coach Ron Bucholtz said was shaped by unfortunate injuries stacking up by the end of the year.

“We know Washington’s a quality team,” Bucholtz said. “At the start of the season, my assistant Derek [Altizer] and I were looking at the different teams and who had what personnel- Morgantown, we knew they were a quality team. Washington, we knew they were going to be a quality team. We thought those would be the two biggest roadblocks to our success if we could get through the entire season healthy.

“Unfortunately, we got devastated by injuries there at the end, losing Adrienne Altizer, Jozy Barton, Regan [Shockey] was playing on a bum knee and a bum ankle today, Caiden Watson got injured in the game- when you’re trying to play at this level against some of the best teams in the state and you’re not at 100% and they are, it’s a challenge. All we can say about our girls is they never quit on any game all season, they’ve got such heart and determination and they play for each other.”

Parkersburg South's Marie Silvis, right, possesses the ball. (Photo by Nick Henthorn)

Despite the struggles, Bucholtz saw the year as one his team should be proud of.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of these girls,” he said. “Our seniors have had a great career, making it to the state tournament three out of the four years. We didn’t quite get as far as we were hoping to, but it was going to be tough. As I told the girls, this trip was like a bonus to get up here, given all the injuries- we played the first three playoff games decimated by injury and still found ways to win. Healthy, maybe a different result, but on any given day it was going to be a tough, tough game against Washington.”

Throughout the course of Thursday, Parkersburg South got few looks at the goal, finishing with seven shots on goal, one more than Vrobel finished with by herself. Washington led 1-0 at halftime, and opened up the game in the second half.

The ball was entrenched in Parkersburg South’s turf early and often Saturday, with Washington attempting three corner kicks inside the first 19 minutes of play. But South stayed strong and held off the constant Washington attack- at least in the early-goings.

The three-seeded Patriots got on the board in the 20th minute, Ayla Kidd burning down the sideline and delivering a low crosser to Vrobel who punched in a close-range goal to start her scoring spree.

Parkersburg South's Addy White possesses the ball. (Photo by Nick Henthorn)

While Washington possessed for much of the first half, they finished with only one more shot on goal than Parkersburg South in that time, 4-3, a testament to their defense.

“Even with our injuries, still we’ve been a very stout defense,” Bucholtz said.

Washington started the second half by making a silhouette around Parkersburg South’s goal, putting two shots just wide of the goal posts and one just over the crossbar. Soon enough though, they would dial in their target.

Vrobel scored her second goal in the 51st minute on a heads-up play, speeding downhill to intercept a pass from an unsuspecting South backline, taking a pair of touches before slicing a post-to-post shot for a 2-0 lead.

Vrobel’s hat trick came in the 72nd minute as South’s defense started to give a little more as the game wore on.

Parkersburg South's Regan Shockey possesses the ball. (Photo by Nick Henthorn)

“We just couldn’t generate the offense,” Bucholtz said. “When you’re not able to generate as much offense as you normally do, you have to absorb more pressure. They’re a quality team and Jurnee Vrobel is just quality. We contained her in the first game when we beat them 2-1, she just got the better of us today.”

Parkersburg South says farewell to a strong senior class of Regan Shockey, Farrah Yost, Kallie McCutcheon, Caiden Watson, Livy Henderson, Addy White, Jozy Baron and Adrienne Altizer.