MORGANTOWN — For 80 percent of the game played between class AAA girls soccer titans George Washington (5-0) and Morgantown High School (2-1), the Mohigans of MHS controlled possession and looked to be the team destined to go home with a victory over the Patriots. However, GWHS had different plans and scored two goals in quick secession to take a huge road victory back to Charleston.
The opening ten minutes saw MHS with the majority of the possession and while the ball found its way into the box for a few chances, the hosts were unable to find the back of the net. The Mohigans would test GW keeper Shelby Tharp once though, but she made a great one-on-one save to keep it scoreless.
The next ten minutes wouldn’t see either team score either, but the Patriots began to find more offense as the clock ticked on. The play seemed more positive among the GW players, but no goal would be produced.
Play continued to trend toward a back-and-forth contest. The defenses of both teams did well to absorb some pressure from its opponents, then push the ball forward to the attacking half for a counterattack.
Just when it seemed certain that halftime would see a scoreless game, the Mohigans earned a free-kick just outside of the top of the 18-yard box with just 17 seconds on the clock. MHS captain Gracie Brown stepped up to the ball and hit a strike that was just out of the reach of Tharp, scoring the opening goal of the game and giving MHS the advantage heading into the locker room.
Coming out for the second half, MHS held a 1-0 lead but knew that they needed to continue to apply pressure to the Patriots and not settle for just one score for the day against a quality side in GWHS.
The Mohigans held onto the lead for the entire second half, stopping wave after wave of attack from GW late into the game. With under five minutes remaining, MHS began to feel the attack of GW pushing forward.
With 2:30 to play in the game, a through ball bounced over the head of MHS defender Ariana Borneo and looked to be collectable by the MHS keeper. However, a miscommunication saw the ball fumbled and tuck into the net by freshman Madison Rothwell to even the game at one goal each.
Not even one minute later, the Patriots would score the go-ahead, game-clinching goal on a chip shot that went over the head of the MHS keeper and bounced into the net to put this game away. GWHS return home with a 2-1 victory over the Mohigans of MHS.
“I think we dominated the game from beginning to end and think we deserved to win with all the chances we created,” MHS head coach Stirlin Rivers said on his thoughts about the game. “The girls stuck to the game plan which was to press their players and not give them time on the ball and in attack moving the ball from midfield to our wide players. But, the game of soccer can be cruel at times. The got the goals and they won the game. I am proud of my teams performance the entire game.”
MHS will travel to Linsly on Thursday, Sept. 1 for a kickoff at 6:00 p.m.
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