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Emma Morris lifts PHS past Hurricane in MSAC showdown

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg banged a pair of first-half shots off the crossbar here Tuesday night at Stadium Field in a Mountain State Athletic Conference showdown with Hurricane, but the Redskins were unable to get a ball past keeper Addi Mosso as Emma Morris tallied the lone goal in the 63rd minute via a Reagan Ashley assist to lift the Big Reds to the 1-0 victory.

PHS, which improved to 10-3-2 overall and 9-1-1 in the MSAC, won its third straight match and now welcomes in Morgantown for a 5:30 p.m. Thursday affair on senior night.

"We did well. On our goal it was a beautiful combination play," admitted PHS head coach Jarric Hoskins. "Found the backside.

"I think we had about three or four passes around the box. We played it up to the middle and then back and then across. Great placement on it."

Ashley, whose 11 goals only trails teammate Hailey Warman's dozen tallies, earned her eighth assist of the campaign.

"I've been seeing this open gap on the side and I was like 'I got to get there in time' and I saw the ball coming across and I was wide open," Morris said of her third goal. "My other friend on the team (Ashley) had a man on her back and I was like 'pass it to me' and I had a wide open shot and it went in the back corner.

"It was really exciting and once we got that goal we pumped it up even more. It was a really tough match because they are really aggressive girls out there and I think we had fun out there, too, so that was also the best part about it."

Hurricane, which held a 3-0 edge in corner kicks, got a quartet of saves from Emsley Conley while Mosso finished with seven. That included corralling a shot inside the near post in the final minute off the foot of Adina Johnson.

"This game was for second place in the MSAC," said Redskins coach Reuben Ellis, whose program (8-3-2, 6-2-2 MSAC) takes on Riverside at 6 p.m. Thursday for senior night. "We knew it was going to be a tough game.

"It always is. Parkersburg is a quality program and they have quality coaches. Congratulations to them. I think the game could've gone either way, but unfortunately for us we had our chances and we just couldn't put it away."

Parkersburg's Layla Hill had a 40-yard direct kick in the 10th minute, but Hurricane's Hannah Allen headed it out of harm's way. A through ball by Ashley to teammate Laekyn Hart looked like it might turn into something, but Hart's shot sailed high in the 30th minute.

In the 31st minute, Aelissa Stavrakis had an open look from 30 yards away, but she drilled the crossbar.

It was the same story with just 45 ticks left before intermission when Faithlyn Butcher got the ball ahead to Morris, but she too rattled the crossbar.

"I need to have a talk with our crossbars," quipped Hoskins. "This season seems to be where we find the crossbars and they are not kind to us. Two great shots. I honestly thought on the first one from Aelissa I thought it hit and dropped down.

"Outside of that we had a couple good one-twos inside the box. We had a lot of opportunities and second half they came out very strong. They were definitely the aggressor in the first 10, 15 minutes."

Auri Barnett had the lone HHS shot on goal in the first half during the 7th minute. The Redskins produced a quartet of shots on goal in the opening minutes of the second half, which included two more by Barnett.

Aside from the late shot by Johnson, Hurricane's Emma Jeffery had a 40-yard direct kick in the 76th minute, but couldn't put it on frame.

"Once you get into regionals anything can happen. I'm proud of the girls," stressed Ellis.

"They fought hard and they never gave up. They never do. It just wasn't our night."

Although the Big Reds still trail George Washington in the MSAC standings, PHS has one conference match remaining on Saturday versus Woodrow Wilson.

"We were two and they were three," Hoskins added of the Redskins. "Obviously winning this puts us in a good position. We know from previous years and a little bit of film they are very organized and like to spread the field. They are pretty solid at possessing the ball, passing the ball and finding the open spaces.

"We knew that was going to be something that we'd have to be mindful of. We had to hold our shape and stay more compact on the back line, but then we were confident in our ability to possess and use our speed up top. At times we did do that. I thought the last about 20 minutes of the first half we did really well and moved the ball around."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Parkersburg girls 1, Hurricane 0

HHS (8-3-2, 6-2-2 MSAC) 0 0 – 0

PHS (10-3-2, 9-1-1 MSAC) 0 1 – 1

PHS: Emma Morris (assist Reagan Ashley), 63rd minute

Team stats

Shots on goal: HHS 7, PHS 5; Corner kicks: HHS 3, PHS 0; Keeper saves: HHS 4 (Emsley Conley 4, Lucy Barnes 0), PHS 7 (Addi Mosso)

Next matches: Riverside at Hurricane, 6 p.m. Thursday for senior night; Morgantown at Parkersburg, 5:30 p.m. Thursday or senior night.

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