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South girls prevail over Spring Valley for senior night win

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

PARKERSBURG – Parkersburg South head coach Ron Bucholtz wants his team to find more success in the final third of the field, but Thursday's effort on senior night inside Erickson All-Sports Facility was more than enough to turn back Spring Valley for a 3-1 victory.

Not only were Patriot seniors Taylor Benear, Camryn McClain, Marie Silvis, Natalee Epperly and Mack Moles honored at halftime, but longtime supporter of the program Greg "BOOM-MAN" Riesbeck was given a moment of silence prior to the start of the match after losing his battle with cancer earlier this month.

It didn't take long for the Patriots to find the back of the net as just 1:16 into the match Payton Sellers dropped a ball to Averee Cross, who blistered a shot near the upper 90 to beat a leaping save attempt by SVHS keeper Millie Workman.

It appeared the Timberwolves of first-year head coach Bradley Jordan would only trail 1-0 at intermission, but with 28.2 seconds remaining in the half Gwen Silvis assisted on Sellers' seventh goal of the campaign for a 2-0 edge.

"Oftentimes they got their mind on the ceremony and the pomp and circumstance, so sometimes we don't play our best game," said Bucholtz, whose squad honored Riesbeck by wearing black wristbands during the match. "We had some mistouches, some misguided passes and stuff. Some of that I think was just what's going on in their mind with senior night.

"We knew they had two good weapons and we let them run free a little bit more than I would've liked to in the first half, but overall great start getting a goal in the second minute and then it was like 'oh, coast mode' and then we woke up in the last two minutes and scored a goal. We were passing the ball beautifully on our end of the field and then just across midfield we still got to figure out the passing sequences and the movement in the final third."

The Timberwolves, who have lost three straight and slipped to 5-5-3 with a home match set for 6 p.m. Tuesday versus South Charleston, had an early opportunity before Cross' fourth tally when Hope Slone got a through pass to Macie Workman, but it was just long as Patriot keeper Alivia Goff was there to scoop it up.

Savannah Davis, who scored with eight ticks remaining in the 68th minute to avert the shutout, had a quality look in the seventh minute, but her shot went wide. In the 19th, Davis played a cross into the box, but no one was there.

"Their effort level for every game is they play hard for 80 minutes," admitted Jordan, whose program nearly went down 2-0 in the 20th minute, but Cate McLain's tough angle shot barely went wide of the post. "It doesn't matter what the score of the game is. I love my girls and I love their energy and their passion for the game, and they play so hard.

"Give it to Park South. They've got a really good team. A real good group of seniors. Their height is killer. Their speed is killer. They've got a really good team, but I'm really proud of my girls the way they played hard for 80 minutes. They got down 3-0 and we did not quit one time."

Gwen Silvis tallied her 19th goal of the season to make it 3-0 in the 49th minute.

Spring Valley, which had four corners to the Patriots' three, also had shots on goal in the 50th minute by Brynn Jordan and in the 64th by Kaylyn Mathis.

The Timberwolves also had a 20-plus yard free kick in the 74th minute when Peyton Sullivan had the initial touch to Davis, but her shot sailed high.

"Obviously we possessed the ball quite nicely throughout most of the game," added Bucholtz. "We just got to do a better job in the final third and then we got to figure out a way to quit giving up some of these soft goals. I was pleased with the performance.

"That was the most physical game we've had to play all season by far and the girls stepped up. I'm glad the girls stepped up the physical play and came up with the goods on senior night against a team that obviously is going to be playing physically."

The 8-3-2 Patriots will try to extend their winning streak to three when they welcome in Buckhannon-Upshur for a 6:30 p.m. Saturday contest.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Erickson All-Sports Facility

Parkersburg South girls 3, Spring Valley 1

SVHS (5-5-3) 0 1 – 1

PSHS (8-3-2) 2 1 – 3

PS: Averee Cross (assist Payton Sellers) 2nd minute

PS: Sellers (assist Gwen Silvis) 40th minute

PS: G. Silvis (unassisted) 49th minute

SV: Savannah Davis (unassisted) 68th minute

Team stats

Shots on goal: SV 4, PS 7; Corner kicks: SV 4, PS 3; Keeper saves: SV 4 (Mille Workman), PS 3 (Alivia Goff)

Next matches: Buckhannon-Upshur at Parkersburg South, 6:30 p.m. Saturday; South Charleston at Spring Valley, 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Starting at /week.