The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

High School Sports

October 15, 2012

Soccer postseason begins today

By Dan Stillwell Register-Herald Sports Writer

Ready or not, here come the soccer sectionals.

Area teams, many plagued by injuries much of the season, are hoping the bumps, bruises and coughs are behind them.

“When we’re healthy and everybody is there, we’re pretty decent,” Midland Trail coach Scott Wilson said. “When we’re not healthy, we’re not very good.”

The 9-8-2 Patriots will open Class AA Region 3, Section 1 play Tuesday against James Monroe at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex. Pocahontas County takes on Nicholas County at 5 p.m. in the other semifinal.

Trail split two games with Nicholas, each a one-goal game, defeated James Monroe by a goal and tied Pocahontas.

“All the teams are pretty much even,” Wilson said.

Forward Mindy Sevy leads the Patriots with 16 goals and six assists. Defender Summer Whipkey has 14 goals and four assists, while Sevy’s identical twin, Molly has 12 goals and four assists.

Superb crosser Marissa Workman has 17 assists and one goal, and defensive standout Hannah Legg, the sweeper, has scored seven goals to go with four assists.

n Shady Spring (8-10-1) had its entire first-team defense on the field Thursday for the first time in weeks, and came away with a 5-0 upset of PikeView.

“Everyone was healthy and well. The defense was very strong,” assistant coach Michelle Meadows said. “(Megan Davis, Sabol Meadows, Alexis DeMoss and Brooke Cogar) work together, and they have a chemistry that’s really effective.”

Junior midfielder Lyndsey Thompson has 98 career goals, including 45 this season. Speedy forward Jade Oar is another scoring threat.

The Tigers will face Oak Hill (5-8-4) in a Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 first-round game at 6 p.m. today at the Cline Youth Sports Complex.

Both moved up this season from Class AA.

The winner of that game will meet Greenbrier East (11-4-0) Tuesday in Fairlea. The Spartans own wins over Woodrow Wilson (2-1), Princeton (2-0), Shady (4-1, 5-0) and Oak Hil (5-0, 2-0).

Woodrow Wilson (12-7-0) plays at Princeton Tuesday in the other Section 2 semifinal. The Flying Eagles have won their last four games, including a 1-0 win over No. 4 Hurricane. Junior Sarah Akers and freshman Rebekah Cook are the top players on offense.

n PikeView’s girls, who lost three key players early in the season, including all-state forward Hope Nester, had several players to step up big. The Panthers finished the regular season with a 13-4-2 mark.

Coach Sam Hill said the shutout loss to Shady Spring was a big disappointment.

“We were hoping to see a better result,” he said. “We wanted to build some momentum going into the postseason.”

At least the Panthers are more or less healthy now, although Nester was lost for the campaign.

“It seems like everyone is as good (health-wise) as we’re going to be this season, so we are fortunate,” Hill said.

Forward Laura Hill has 49 goals and 105 for her career. Midfielder Charlotte Webster has 13 goals and 22 assists, while midfielder Sophie Cline has 10 assists.

PikeView will face Mingo Central at 7 p.m. Tuesday at East River Stadium in Bluefield in the Class AA Region 3, Section 2 tournament. Bluefield takes on Wyoming East at 7 p.m. today in the other semifinal.

n The Panthers’ boys team is 10-6-2 and has also been playing without starters Hunter Cline (concussion) and Seth Wood (an injured toe).

Alec White leads PikeView with 13 goals. Cline has scored 11.

The Panthers take on Mingo Central at 5 p.m. Tuesday at East River Stadium in the Section 2 semifinals.

n Oak Hill (3-9-2) will host Shady Spring (8-8-1) at 3:30 p.m. today in a first-round Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 boys match. The winner plays Tuesday at Princeton (11-5-1), while Woodrow Wilson hosts Greenbrier East at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Paul Cline Stadium in the other semifinal.

Woodrow (7-7-4) is coming off a 3-0 win Thursday over East (5-13-2), and also defeated the Spartans 3-2 Oct. 11.

Luke Rodriguez leads the Flying Eagles with six goals.

East has a strong defense that allowed four or more goals in just four games. They have six shutouts.

— E-mail: dstillwell@

register-herald.com

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