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Patriots continue dominance, roll Red Dragons 9-0

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg South came out firing on all cylinders here Tuesday evening inside Erickson All-Sports Facility and put on an offensive show in a 9-0 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory against St. Albans.

Mack Moles scored twice off Natalee Epperly corner kicks and the first one came just 55 seconds into the match via a header to beat Red Dragons keeper Lyric Moore, who finished with eight saves

The Patriots scored their eight goals in the opening half using less than 13 minutes of clock time.

"We moved the ball around nicely," admitted PSHS head coach Ron Bucholtz. "The girls played with composure and passed the ball around. We didn't spend too much energy. We have a massive game coming up Thursday. Our first real big test of the season at Huntington.

"We accomplished what we needed to do, which was play with composure, move the ball all around the field, play some good combination play and not give up any chances. Overall I was pleased. Thursday we'll really find out what we're made of."

Braylin Byrd found an unmarked Averee Cross in the middle of the field a little more than a minute later and the sophomore scored her third goal of the season when she blistered a shot into the back of the net from 33 yards out.

Epperly then assisted on Gwen Silvis' 13th goal of the campaign in the fourth minute and the lead quickly went to 4-0 after Berkley Elschlager found Payton Sellers with 12 ticks left in the fifth minute.

Moles picked up her fifth tally of the season when she used her knee on Epperly's corner kick with four seconds left in the sixth minute.

Silvis made a pass late in the eighth minute to Quinn Wilson, who looked like she would score her first goal of the year, but the ball went off the post. However, Wilson stayed with it and managed to boot in her own rebound to make it 6-0.

The freshman Silvis also was involved in the Patriots' next goal when she earned assist number five thanks to Shelby Battin finding the back of the net.

Following a penalty on the Red Dragons, who dropped to 0-3-1 and welcome in Parkersburg at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Epperly made it 8-0 with seven seconds remaining in the 13th minute after she scored on a free kick from 33 yards out.

"I'm a young team," admitted SAHS head man Kevin Stambaugh. "This is my second year coaching. First year as a head coach, but I have a very young team. I have a lot of experienced players, but I have a lot of players that are still unsure of what they are supposed to be doing and where they should be playing. Of course, the chemistry.

"I only have four seniors this year. Most of them are sophomores and I have five freshmen, so I have a lot of building still to do, but these are learning experiences. I think as the season progresses we'll get better at working together and learning to be more fluid, us being one unit instead of being individualized."

St. Albans had its only shot on goal in the 15th minute from senior captain Ella Lane, but PSHS keeper Alivia Goff saved it as she logged her fourth shutout.

"Second half St. Albans stepped up their defense and their intensity," said Bucholtz. "I think they probably had a second half goal of seeing if you can hang around for as long as possible and you walk out of here without the game ending early. We tried to find some girls some goals early in the second half who have never scored.

"I didn't want to keep running it up in the first half obviously. You know there's no limit in the first half and I don't want to do that to anybody ever. We just let the girls have some fun. We got everybody in. I put in some of the JV players who typically don't roster for the varsity squad, so I was happy the girls were able to do that and they were supporting each other."

Moore made seven of her stops following intermission, which included a one-handed diving save.

Parkersburg South, which improved to 5-0, has now outscored opponents 39-1 in the early going.

The Patriots were unable to score off any of their other six corners, which included one from Cross in the 34th minute that was cleared out of the box thanks to a Makenna Taylor header.

Senior Marie Silvis collected her fourth assist of the season in the 77th minute when she found freshman Cate McLain, who tallied her third goal.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Erickson All-Sports Facility

Parkersburg South girls 9, St. Albans 0

SAHS (0-3-1, 0-3 MSAC) 0 0 – 0

PSHS (5-0, 3-0 MSAC) 8 1 – 9

PS: Mac Moles (assist Natalee Epperly) 1st minute

PS: Averee Cross (assist Braylin Bird) 3rd minute

PS: Gwen Silvis (assist Epperly) 4th minute

PS: Payton Sellers (assist Berkley Elschlager) 5th minute

PS: Moles (assist Epperly) 6th minute

PS: Quinn Wilson (unassisted) 8th minute

PS: Shelby Battin (assist Silvis) 12th minute

PS: Epperly (unassisted) 13th minute

PS: Cate McLain (assist Marie Silvis) 77th minute

Shots on goal: SA 1, PS 19; Corner kicks: SA 0, PS 8; Keeper saves: SA 10 (Lyric Moore 8, Team 2), PS 1 (Alivia Goff)

Next matches: Parkersburg at St. Albans, 6:30 p.m. Thursday; Parkersburg South at Huntington, 6 p.m. Thursday.

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