MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The Morgantown High girls’ soccer team wasted little time in cruising to a 15-0 victory against John Marshall on Tuesday at Pony Lewis Field.
Sophomore forward Emily Carpenter got MHS (3-0) started in the fourth minute when she received speedy freshman Ariana Borneo’s feed from the right wing in the box and slipped it past the Monarchs’ keeper. A minute later, sophomore Gracie Brown boomed a right foot shot in from the 18 to double the lead, then at the ten-minute mark, junior Ashleigh Weaver turned a slick lateral move into a free swing, and her right footed blast tucked into the side netting for a 3-0 lead.
It took 13 minutes to make it six, as Brown, Weaver, and Borneo all scored pretty goals — in order, a lovely chip from 25 yards out, a one-touch left foot off the post and in, and a turning left footed missile from 12 yards out.
Lillian Staples broke clear and calmly finished a minute later, then Carpenter potted a pair for a hat trick and a 9-0 lead.
When Zofia Sabolsky confidently buried a penalty kick with five minutes left in the half, MHS had hit a 10-0 lead heading into the break.
Despite liberal substitution and a far less aggressive offensive posture, the Mohigans continued to play hard and finish their chances. Carpenter scored her fourth and fifth tallies in the 47th and 49th minute, and freshman Riley Lafferty netted her first varsity goal ten minutes later, followed by Sabolsky’s second goal in the 63rd minute.
Junior Megan Wolfarth capped the overwhelming victory with her goal in the 72nd minute.
After the match, Carpenter admitted that she’d scored five in a game before back in her youth soccer days, but it still felt good to finish well, even against an undermanned John Marshall (1-4).
“We all just tried to make the extra pass, talk to each other, and play smart once we were up after halftime,” she said. “I think our job is always the same no matter the level of our opponents – possess the ball, build out of the back, and be patient with the ball. We did a good job.”
Many teams on the high side of games like this fall into undisciplined habits, but MHS coach Stirlin Rivers was, for the most part, pleased with the way his Mohigans stayed on task and stuck to the plan.
“We didn’t have any interest in scoring as many goals as we could,” he explained, “so our goal was to possess, and take the air out of the ball, like we were protecting a lead. We played a lot of two-touch soccer, and just keep as simple as we could.
“We’ve worked very hard to learn to keep calm with the ball in scoring areas, and we were solid today,” Rivers continued, commenting on the scoreboard. “Instead of hitting it hard, sometimes all you need to do is pass the ball into the net, a calm touch with the inside of the foot. For sure, the more times you are successful in the dangerous areas, it will breed confidence, and we will need that confidence throughout the rest of the season.”
Volleyball
Morgantown High swept a tri-match against Buckhannon-Upshur and Preston.
The Mohigans beat B-U, 25-14 and 25-13, and knocked off Preston, 25-7, 25-10.
Issy Grushecky had 10 kills and two service aces for the Mohigans, while teammate Kaitlyn Anderson had nine kills.
Paige Brock had 25 assists, Asia Halbritter had 12 aces and Darian Bebout and Ava Biafore each added five aces.
Clay-Battelle 3, Tygarts Valley 0
BLACKSVILLE — Kendal Saul had nine service aces to lead the Cee-Bees past Tygarts Valley.
The scores of the match were 25-20, 25-17 and 25-14.
Heaven Tennant added seven aces and Lydia Moore had four kills. Caitlynn Patterson, Hannah hanlin and Allison King each had three aces.
The Cee-Bees will be at a quad match at University High at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
