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Parkersburg girls fall to unbeaten George Washington

By Kerry Patrick 4 min read

PARKERSBURG - In Parkersburg's quest to qualify for the championship match in girls soccer for the Mountain State Athletic Conference, the margin for error just became that much narrower.

Hosting the league's first-place team in George Washington, Tuesday night at Stadium Field, the Big Reds and the Patriots played to a scoreless tie in the first half before the pace for both offenses turned up the heat for the final 30 minutes.

PHS produced several good looks, but couldn't find the back of the net. For GW, Lexi Blanchard's goal off an assist from Ellie Pray at the 30:50 mark of the second half proved to be the only ball which got past Big Red keeper Addison Mosso.

PHS slips to 7-3-2 with three league games remaining and a grip on second place should the Big Reds win out their final three MSAC matches.

"We have the three matches after this - we need to win out to get a chance to potentially have a rematch of this game tonight," PHS coach Jarric Hoskins said.

GW improved to 10-0-1 and posted its seventh straight clean slate. The Patriots have allowed just three goals this season.

"We played a little bit too far back in the first half - we played more on our heels," Hoskins said. "We were less the aggressor and were just kind of playing back. We let the game come to us in terms of letting them attack.

"Then in the second half, we challenged the girls to pick it up. We are trying to get the girls to understand the finesse side of the game, but we have to use our speed and physicality to get the 50-50 balls to create more opportunities. So the second half was a lot better than the first."

The first nine minutes after halftime were basically played in the middle of the field. PHS was whistled for a foul as the clock snuck under the 31-minute mark.

GW was given a modified corner kick as Pray approached the ball resting just inside the field of play parallel to the net. Blanchard was able to shield her defender and keep them off her back. With a clear path, Pray found Blanchard who found the inside portion of the net and a 1-0 GW lead.

"There was one shot (Addison) stopped that was basically at the goal line and she kept it out - so it could have easily been 2-0 tonight," Hoskins said. "She played a very good game tonight."

The opposing goal gave the PHS an energy boost. Several minutes following the score, Big Red captain Layla Hill took a free kick from 45 yards outside the net. With the coaching staff instructing her to go on frame, Hill sent a shot attempt which GW keeper Oriah Allen had to make a play.

Big Reds' Hailey Warman nearly had a putback, but Allen pushed the ball away. Back-to-back sets resulted for PHS in the same sequence only to be denied.

PHS created looks throughout the second half, including one in the final seven minutes. Again Hill set up for a free kick at a shorter distance. Her shot nearly squeezed under the crossbar, but Allen leaped and tipped the ball out of harm's way.

"There are things to learn from tonight," Hoskins said. "The big thing is we picked up our intensity in the second half, and we played a lot better against them. That's our biggest takeaway - for the girls to understand they were not completely out of that game.

"George Washington passes the ball well. They have a lot of size, a lot of height on their team. It's hard to scout for that. We didn't win and that stinks, but there are a lot of things we can take away going forward."

At Stadium Field, Parkersburg

George Washington 1, Parkersburg 0

GW (10-0-1) 0 1 - 1

PHS (7-3-2) 0 0 - 0

Second Half

GW: Lexi Blanchard (Ellie Pray assist), 30:50

Next match: Parkersburg at Capital, Thursday; Woodrow Wilson at George Washington, Thursday

Starting at /week.