By Jed Lockett
It was a cold yet bright morning at the Beckley YMCA Youth Sports Complex. In this setting was born a new hope in the form of the PikeView Panthers, who in their third season of existence were making their first appearance in the state soccer tournament.
The Panthers themselves had more than hope, giving Weir everything they could handle in 80 goalless minutes and forcing overtime. But they could not prevent Lindsay Thorp and Milena Maragos from getting a goal and an assist each in the first extra period as the Red Riders beat the Panthers 2-0 Friday in a Class AA/A girls semifinal at Carter Field.
“I think the girls probably gave — if not their best — one of their best efforts of the season,” PikeView coach Sam Hill said. “We talked about coming into the game giving ourselves an opportunity to get a result. For 80 minutes they did that and that’s all you can ask for.”
“It’s hard to do all the conditioning and this is why,” Weir coach Chris LeFever said. “Today is why, because when you get into that over 80 minutes, you’ve got to be in condition, and today it paid off.”
The game opened with the teams spending the first 10 minutes feeling each other out. Slowly Weir began to take over and unveiled its strategy. Playing an offensive-minded 3-3-4 formation, it focused on getting the ball in front of the goal outside the PikeView box.
The Red Riders put five shots on target, but PikeView goalie Amanda Presley stopped all of them and the Panthers’ defense followed her lead.
“My mindset was pretty much the same as it is every game, go out there and focus and do what I know I’ve got to do and get the job done because they’re counting on me as the last defender,” Presley said.
Then PikeView turned the tables, taking the fight to Weir. The Panthers focused on playing the ball wide, then crossing to a potentially open player in the penalty area. The tactic only produced two shots on goal, but PikeView forced Weir keeper Taylor Gianangeli to work hard as she handled the ball 12 times in the first 40 minutes.
As morning morphed into afternoon, PikeView proved it was for real — and Weir knew it. In the first minute of the second half, the Red Riders had their best opportunity of regulation. Nikolette Robinson crossed the ball from the right side deep into the PikeView box. Kassandra Robinson met it, but Presley was there to make the stop.
Weir controlled the majority of the second half, concentrating its attack on the left side of PikeView’s defense. But defenders Deidra DeMoss, Maggie Dillon and Tara Hazelwood thrived on the challenge, only allowing the Red Riders one more shot on goal for the rest of the period.
The Panthers actually got more shots on goal — five — than the Red Riders in the second 40 minutes and continued to force Gianangeli to work hard. As she had in the first half, Gianangeli kept PikeView off the scoreboard. She ended the game with eight saves on eight shots and handled the ball 26 times in the game’s 100 minutes.
The overtime started with Weir controlling the flow. Seven minutes in, the Red Riders were finally rewarded. Maragos rolled a pass through the PikeView defense. Thorp ran onto it and rolled it past Presley for the game’s definitive moment.
“I didn’t have the ball and I just saw the big opening and I was calling for it,” Thorp said. “She passed it to me, and one of the things our coaches told us all the time was location. So I saw it and I saw the left side was wide open because the goalie was coming over to my side and I just put it in right there.”
It took the Red Riders just one minute to put the game away. This time, Thorp made the pass to Maragos from the right side into the box and Maragos finished with a perfect rolling shot in the lower left corner. Even though it had another 10-minute overtime period, PikeView never recovered.
“Lindsay sent it and I had my back to the goal and I whipped around and I just saw the open corner,” Maragos said.
“I think just the fatigue of the game eventually got us, and once that first goal went in, it’s hard to pick yourself back up from that, knowing that you don’t have a lot left in the tank,” Hill said.
Weir (16-3-3) will play Charleston Catholic in the state championship game at 11 a.m. today.
— E-mail: jlockett@bdtonline.com
Weir 2, PikeView 0
Goals: Weir, Lindsay Thorp (87), Milena Maragos (88). Assists: Weir, Milena Maragos (87), Lindsay Thorp (88). Halftime: 0-0. Regulation: 0-0. Shots (On Goal): PikeView 11 (8); Weir 18 (10). Saves: PikeView 8 (Amanda Presley 8); Weir 8 (Taylor Gianangeli 8). Corner Kicks: PikeView 3; Weir 4. Offsides: PikeView 1; Weir 2. Fouls: PikeView 1; Weir 12. Cards: None.
