The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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October 22, 2009

Oak Hill takes sectional

By Dan Stillwell

Players, coaches and fans at Paul Cline Stadium held their collective breath Wednesday night as Pocahontas County’s Abe Rittenhouse approached the ball for a penalty kick.

That is, everyone but Oak Hill goalkeeper Mark Manning.

“I was keeping my cool,” he said after he dived to the left and stopped Rittenhouse’s kick. “All you have to do is stay cool and be calm. Have a good time.”

Manning’s heroics in the 49th minute ignited the Red Devils, inspiring them to a 2-1 victory in the Class AA-A Region 3, Section 1 tournament final.

“Once Marky saved the ball, the guys got even more hyped up than what they were,” coach Laura Sedlock said. “They wanted to prove themselves and get some points on the boards. And they did.”

Alex White scored from 20 yards out in the 63rd minute and Thomas Booth followed suit in the 68th minute to give Oak Hill (10-5-2) a lead it would not relinquish.

Rittenhouse, a senior all-state midfielder for Pocahontas County, answered with a line drive from 35 yards out to cut the lead. That made Manning’s save all the more decisive.

“I was watching (Rittenhouse’s) foot position when he kicked the ball,” the sophomore said. “I guess (the direction) at some points, but I knew where this one was going.”

It was Manning’s second PK block of his career. He missed several games earlier this season but is completely recovered.

Pocahontas County (16-2-2), last year’s Class AA-A state runnerup, held a 9-5 edge in shots on goal. Most were from outside the 18-yard line.

“I love my defense (Billy Shuff, Rodney Woodson, Jimmy Adkins and Daniel Garcia). They’re outstanding,” Manning said. “I’m confident they’ll get the ball out.”

Warriors coach Mike Burns thought Oak Hill took his team out of its game plan.

“It wasn’t our best game. We do a little more ball possession and they got us out of our rhythm,” he said. “And when you get behind, you have to play catch-up.”

Pocahontas County made Oak Hill striker Victor Garcia a marked man all evening.

Double-teaming the senior all-stater, who has 99 career goals, left holes elsewhere.

White and Booth made good on their attempts from the left and right side of the box.

“If there’s two on Victor, there’s someone wide open at the 18 or right on the post,” Sedlock said. “It worked out.”

“We have more than one deadly player on the team,” assistant coach Stephanie Woodson said. “We know that anybody can find the net.”

The previous meeting between the teams ended a 0-0 deadlock.

“We’ve had a good defense all year, but they put in two quick ones on us,” Burns said. “Abe came back and got us close, but we couldn’t find it tonight.

“That’s soccer.”

Oak Hill advances to next Thursday’s Region 3 championship game at East River Stadium in Bluefield. The Red Devils will play either James Monroe or PikeView for a berth in the state tournament.

— E-mail:dstillwell@ register-herald.com



Scoring: OH Alex White (63rd minute); OH Thomas Booth (68); PC Abe Rittenhouse (70). Shots on goal: PC 9 (James Wiley 3, Rittenhouse 3, William Kelley 1, Jesse Bolyard 1, N/A 1); OH 5 (Victor Garcia 1, Nat Wilson 1, Booth 2, White 1). Keeper saves: PC 3, OH 8.

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