By Dan Stillwell
Parkersburg hasn’t played a man down all season.
So the Big Reds had to make the most of a bad situation to defeat Martinsburg 2-0 Friday morning in a Class AAA boys semifinal of the state high school soccer tournament at Paul Cline Stadium.
Seven minutes after losing standout forward Matt Sellers to a red card, Parkersburg took the lead and held on determinedly to reach today’s 10:30 a.m. final against Woodrow Wilson.
“I’m very proud of the way the kids played,” coach Don Fosselman said. “That goal just before the half was huge.”
Sellers was disqualified after crashing cleats-up into Martinsburg goalkeeper Drew Dopson in the 31st minute. The red card will result in Sellers being unavailable for the championship game.
Parkersburg (20-2-2) had dominated the contest up to that point, but had failed to find the back of the net.
Harlen Gibson remedied that situation in the 39th minute, getting the ball from teammate Brian Runyon 10 yards in front of the goal and ripping it past Dopson for a 1-0 lead.
“It wasn’t a cheap goal, but we had three good efforts before the one that went in,” Fosselman said.
Runyon, who later added an insurance goal, said, “After going a man down, we just stepped up. It was all heart and determination.”
Martinsburg (15-9) showed its own character in the second half. Held without a shot on goal in the first half, the Bulldogs cranked up their attack.
They took six shots on goal, but Big Reds keeper Chad White was able to make the stop each time.
Two other shots, a back-heel attempt in the box by Aaron Anderson and a drive by Evan Bobo, went wide and high, respectively.
“We just couldn’t bury one,” Bulldogs coach Greg Miller said.
Martinsburg played most of the game without quick midfielder Miguel Moreno, who sprained an ankle earlier this week in practice.
“Miguel being hurt really hurt us. He has so much speed and finesse,” Miller said. “We put him in, but his ankle was swollen and he was not the effective player he’d been.”
Runyon’s goal came in the 76th minute on a direct kick from 30 yards out. There was no one on him and he saw his chance.
“I was going diagonally and I saw the goalie was out about six yards,” he said.
Fosselman said, “I wanted him to slow the game down, give us an extra 10 to 15 seconds. But he did good that time.”
It was a very physical game that featured four yellow cards, two by each team, in addition to the red card.
“You’re not going to get here without playing physical and hard,” Bobo said. “Both teams put it all out.
“The game felt closer than 2-0.”
The red card was Parkersburg’s first of the year.
“We only get yellow cards every now and then,” Fosselman said. “Sometimes we were a little clumsy, but we played aggressively and we played hard.”
Parkersburg 2, Martinsburg 0
Halftime: P 1-0. Scoring: P Harlen Gibson, Brian Runyon assist (38); P Runyon, unassisted (76). Shots on goal: M 6 (Aaron Anderson 2, Christian Rudy, Adam Mauck, Andy Abrahamian, Jack Barronner); P 7 (Sean McCloskey, Jordan Alleman 2, Brian Runyon 2, Adam Alleman, Harlan Gibson). Keeper saves: M (Drew Dopson 5); P (Chad White 5). Corner kicks: P 3; M 2. Offsides: P 2; M 0. Fouls: P 11; M 7. Yellow cards: M (Jack Baronner, Evan Bobo); P (Sean McCloskey, Tyler Craft). Red cards: P (Matt Sellers).
