Oct 30, 2024
Parkersburg South’s Regan Shockey (0) controls the ball during Tuesday’s regional final match against Huntington. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
HURRICANE – The rash of injuries following Parkersburg South girls soccer through the postseason is becoming well-documented.
And Tuesday night in a Class AAA regional against Huntington at Hurricane High School, coach Ron Bucholtz added some cajun flavor to the Patriot experience as they advanced to the state tournament’s Final Four with a 2-0 win over the Highlanders.
“I’m just proud of the girls for getting us to state,” Bucholtz said. “We will make a vacation out of it and go play some soccer. If we can get a win and move on, that’s outstanding. If not, we have had an outstanding season regardless of what happens.
“As they say when I was living in Louisiana, it’s all lan yap now. It’s all icing on the cake.”
At 17-1-4, South has the resume of a No. 1 seed. But players are keeping the training staff in constant motion. To a certain degree, the Patriots are playing with house money.
Parkersburg South’s Kallie McCutcheon, left, takes control of the ball during the Patriots’ 2-0 win over Huntington in a Class AAA regional, Tuesday in Hurricane. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
“We are putting our players together with super glue and duct tape,” Bucholtz continued. “Actually, it’s more like Gorilla glue and Gorilla tape at this point.
“Same result as last week’s win (in the sectional finals) – the heart and character of these girls to just fight and persevere against teams that are coming to play which are relatively healthy. We’re about the only team that is not healthy.”
With key starters such as Adi Altizer and Jozy Barton unavailable against Huntington, fellow senior Regan Shockey put the offense on her shoulders late in the first half and scored the game’s first goal with 45.6 seconds remaining before halftime.
Altizer’s absence put Shockey in a different role in the center of the field. The result of her direct kick was exactly what South was looking for. At the beginning of the season, the Patriots blanked the Highlanders, 3-0.
“This means so much more because we have all grown up together – this our senior year and people are injured and we are playing for them,” said Shockey, who will be making her third straight trip to the state tournament in Beckley for next Thursday’s (Nov. 7) semifinals.
Huntington’s Claire Johnson (29) tries to keep the ball away from Parkersburg South’s Anniya Powell (1) during Tuesday’s match at Hurricane. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)
“That goal there in the first half took off a lot of the pressure because we could relax and focus on defense more,” Shockey added. “But we still wanted to get that extra goal.
During intermission, the South coaching staff stressed the importance of tacking on an insurance goal and putting the win to bed.
Just as they did for the first portion of the first half, the Highlanders looked energized and sent several deep balls into South territory. On a couple of Huntington corner kicks, South keeper Emilee Owens came out of net and collected the ball without any further incident.
“The beginning of both halves, Huntington was putting a little bit of pressure on us, but our defense is amazing,” Owens said. “It makes me feel relieved I have such a good defensive line.
“This year, we are pretty much winning our playoff games with heart. It’s pretty much go out and give 110 percent and whatever happens, happens.”
The nine days between matches will give a majority of the South players to mend, if not all the players.
“Rest,” Owens replied as the key to having success at the state tournament.
Huntington, which ends the season at 12-9-2, didn’t get much off a sniff at the net in the final 10-plus minutes of regulation. South sophomore Marie Silvis took the halftime talk to heart and at the 6:04 mark of the second half zipped a low liner past the keeper to give the Patriots a 2-0 lead.
“A 1-0 lead, it’s very easy for the other team to come back,” Silvis said. “I’ve been working on that shot at practice a lot. They tell me to hammer it low and when I did that I was so relieved because I have been working on that all season.”
A minute later, Silvis had the identical shot but her shot sailed just above the crossbar.
“I just think I got my head up more when I looked up at the goal like I’ve doing this season,” Silvis added.
With Silvis and the rest of her teammates, the postseason has been about next man up.
“Even the players who don’t usually play have stepped up,” Silvis said. To see them take their spots and get us to state, it’s wonderful.”
Shockey provided the assist on the final goal.
“”We keep finding a way to win and that’s what good teams do,” Bucholtz said. “These girls are a happy family and love each other, and it shows.
“We wish we had everybody healthy because we thought we had a real, really good chance to win a state title. Now, anything’s possible because we are there.”
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