By Dan Stillwell
Woodrow Wilson didn’t just turn the tables on Fairmont Senior.
The Flying Eagles completely upended them.
Avenging an earlier 1-0 loss, Woodrow held the Polar Bears to just five shots on goal in a 3-0 victory Friday in the Class AAA semifinals of the boys soccer state tournament at Paul Cline Stadium.
“We had some opportunities last time and didn’t capitalize,” coach Rocky Powell said. “This time the goals went in.”
Three different players found the back of the net for the Flying Eagles, starting with Tanner Pfeiffer’s goal in the 20th minute.
Following a throw-in, the ball bounced around in front of the Fairmont goal.
“I was just in the right place at the right time,” the junior midfielder said. “It gave us a huge piece of momentum.”
The Polar Bears began working even harder to get the ball to midfielder Brooks Nucilli, the state’s leading scorer with 49 goals.
Nucilli got two good looks at goal late in the first half and another early in the second. Eagles keeper Pierce Jarrell came up with saves each time.
Woodrow finally shot down the Polar Bears’ hopes when senior defender Tony Serge nailed a penalty kick in the 58th minute.
Fairmont would manage just one more shot on goal afterward.
“I knew we needed one more goal,” Serge said. “(Fairmont) kind of gave up after the second goal.”
Midfielder Dillon Leeson, who scored the winning goal three weeks ago against Woodrow, admitted his team was outplayed.
“We played hard, but we got frustrated after the first goal and started panicking,” he said. “It went downhill after that.”
Nucilli added, “Woodrow has a solid defense. We tried, but (the shots) wouldn’t go.”
Ryan Kissinger, a reserve forward, scored from the box in the 64th minute to wrap up the scoring.
“I figured I’d get a chance eventually,” he said. “(The ball) just appeared at my feet and we put it away.”
Fairmont coach Jim Dinardi had expected another 1-0 game.
“We didn’t seem to get into our game tonight,” he said. “Woodrow played strong and stood us up well.
“Give credit to Woodrow. We were two evenly matched teams. We went after each other pretty hard and they came out on top this time.”
Woodrow will play Parkersburg at 10:30 a.m. today for the championship.
— E-mail:
dstillwell@register-herald.com
Woodrow Wilson 3, Fairmont Senior 0
Scoring: WW Tanner Pfeiffer, unassisted (20), Tony Serge, penalty kick (58), Ryan Kissinger, unassisted (64). Shots on goal: WW 9 (Jonah Moore 2, Ben Stafford 2, Tanner Pfeiffer, Aaron Dunbar 2, Tony Serge, Ryan Kissinger); FS 5 (Matthew Hibbs, Brooks Nucilli 3, Joe Vosniak). Keeper saves: WW (Pierce Jarrell 6); FS (Corey Cleavenger 5). Corner kicks: WW 6; FS 5. Offsides: WW 2; FS 1. Fouls: WW 18; FS 14. Yellow cards: WW (Logan Powell 2); FS (Nucilli, Tim Haldeman, Dillon Leeson). Red cards: None. Records: WW (16-3-3); FS (16-2-2).
