Is it too early to refer to a high school soccer match as a showdown?

When it’s Woodrow Wilson and Parkersburg, certainly not.

Today’s 6 p.m. game at the YMCA’s Paul Cline Stadium is not only a rematch of last year’s Class AAA state championship game, but both teams are off to great starts.

Woodrow, which graduated seven seniors from last season’s 16-4-3 team, is 4-0-1 following 1-0 victories over Fairmont Senior and Morgantown, a 2-1 win over George Washington, a 2-2 draw with Capital and a 2-0 decision Tuesday over Princeton.

All those matches were on the road and were hard-earned.

“We’ve been very spotty in our play,” 21st-year head coach Rocky Powell said. “We’ve played in spurts, but last night we had a more complete game.”

Sophomore forward Luke Rodriguez scored off a Carl Bou-Aboud pass, and Ben Stafford drilled a shot from 30 yards out to seal the win over Princeton.

“We’ve got good team speed, but we’re not moving the ball like we should,” Powell said. “We can be very dangerous if we move the ball at speed.”

The Flying Eagles are young up front, but senior-dominated in the midfield, defense and in goal.

Eight seniors graduated, including three all-staters — state defender of the year Tony Serge, midfielder Jonah Moore and goalkeeper Pierce Jarrell. Forward Derrick Law, midfielders Aaron Dunbar and Robert Landis and defenders Christian Planté and Billy Hall also concluded their careers.

Their loss left a lot of holes to be filled. Senior striker Ryan Kissenger is currently out with a knee injury, but junior Michael Zutaut and sophomore Luke Rodriguez are showing promise at forward.

The midfielders are senior Tanner Pfieffer in front, Stafford and Bou-Aboud, also seniors, on the wings and junior Jordan Morgan and senior Mark Bou-Aboud in back.

The defense features Travis Cole at sweeper and Matt Prelaz and Evan Foster on the left and right. All three are seniors, as is goalkeeper Logan Powell, who moved back from midfielder.

Defender Wesley Lopez, midfielder Roy Sakali and wings Anish Patel and Brandon Cook are the top reserves.

Parkersburg is likewise 4-0-1, with wins over Linsly Academy (9-2), Wheeling Park (4-1), Jefferson (8-0) ad Parkersburg South (9-1), and a 2-2 tie with Washington.

The Big Reds were also hit hard by graduation, losing 10 seniors. Two, defender Zack Higginbotham and keeper Spencer Griffey, were first-team all-staters.

Yet, Parkersburg has bashed five opponents by a combined 32-6 count.

“They’ve been doing some scoring,” Powell said. “They’re always well coached by Don Fosselman, and although they lost a lot, they’ve come back strong.”

Junior forward Brian Runyon is a standout for the Big Reds.

Last November, they shut out Woodrow 2-0 in the Class AAA state championship game at Paul Cline Stadium.

“I’m sure that’s lingering the back of our minds,” Powell said. “We have a good rivalry with them, and we bounce around in the regular season.

“But they have the edge in state tournaments. They’ve beaten us three times (in the finals) and we’ve beaten them once (1-0 in 2004).”

Last year was Parkersburg’s sixth title under Fosselman and third in the last four seasons.

Tonight’s game is the first of a five-game home stand for the Flying Eagles. They’ll host Huntington at 6 p.m. Tuesday, followed by matches with University (Sept. 11), Greenbrier East and Wheeling Park.

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