MORGANTOWN – After a slow start, the Morgantown boys’ lacrosse team finished strong and held off Wheeling Central on Tuesday night, 9-7.
The game opened with both teams feeling the other out. The Knights jumped out to an early lead after just two minutes of play on a nice goal after working the ball around the field.
The Mohigans (7-3) matched the goal with one of their own by junior Ty Edgerton. They added another goal just 19 seconds later when senior attacker Preston Harman buried a close-range shot.
Five minutes would then pass before another point was registered by either side. At the 4:01 mark in the opening quarter, MHS got its third goal of the game, this one scored by Wyatt Kozel. The Mohigans wouldn’t allow another goal and head into the second with a 3-1 lead.
The second quarter began much differently than the opener, with no goals being scored through the first three minutes.
Despite seeing a lot of offensive possession, Wheeling Central (6-3) gave the ball away often on turnovers. Both teams saw the goal for a few shooting opportunities but couldn’t find the back of the net.
That was until the Knights found their second of the game on a laser of a shot from 25-yards out that flew past the Mohigans keeper to make the score 3-2 with just under eight minutes to play before halftime.
Not even a minute later, Wheeling Central would tie the game 3-3 on a nice goal from its midfielder Maroney at the 6:58 mark in the second.
Like the first quarter, we saw another extended period of play without a goal scored. After nearly seven minutes, the Knights would seize the lead again at 4-3 with two minutes to go until halftime.
Harman would strike once again for MHS however, slotting one home with under a minute left until the break and bringing the game to a draw once again at 4-4 with his second goal of the game.
Harman would add two more goals to his name to go along with an assist as well. MHS had five different players score a goal in the game.
The Mohigans would outscore the Knights 4-2 in the third quarter and held onto a slim lead at 8-6 going into the fourth.
Each team would add one goal each in the fourth allowing MHS to hold onto the lead and take the victory.
“We came out slow with an error-filled first half. The second half we played with intensity and were more focused on defense and poised on offense, We limited our turnovers and ran our settled offense which was non-existent in the first half,” MHS head coach Jeremy Bennett said.
MHS will return home at 11 a.m. Saturday to host Spring Mills.
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