MORGANTOWN – In a crucial, midseason battle of bitter rivals, the Hawks of University High School (2-6-2) hosted cross-town rival Morgantown High (4-4-3) at Mylan Pharmaceutical stadium. Both teams tallied a goal in the second half to earn a draw in a 1-1, back and forth contest on Thursday night.
Through ten minutes in the first half, possession was seen on offense for both sides. It was the Hawks that saw the better opportunities on goal however, working the ball into the box multiple times but without seeing a goal.
UHS keeper Connor Montgomery and MHS keeper Tyler Crites both made some good saves early on to keep the game scoreless.
None better than the save Montgomery made on MHS midfielder James Percifield on the last play of the first half. Percifield found his way in-behind the defense with no one but the opposing keeper standing between he and the go-ahead goal.
Montgomery was up to the task though, standing tall and deflecting the shot out of bounds. He rose from the ground with a shout and a fist in the air and the game would remain scoreless at halftime.
The second half would begin similar to the first, with no goals coming within the opening ten minutes of play.
Finally, at the 27 minute mark in the second half, the Mohigans worked a nice cross into a dangerous area of the UHS box. Defender Colin Petsko jumped into the air and struck the ball perfectly with his head and into the net of the Hawks, giving his team a 1-0 advantage.
MHS came out visibly more confident immediately after scoring, and the Hawks just needed to remain calm and play the game the had up to that point, as the chances had shown themselves.
With less than 15 minutes to play, UHS would finally get the goal it had been working for all night. A free kick was given to the Hawks 25 yards away from the goal at the top left of the 18-yard box. UHS’ Daniel Kaddar stepped to the ball, and on the whistle, blasted a shot that sailed over the head of Crites and into the back of the net.
The game would end 1-1 with both teams earning a hard-fought draw.
“UHS does a great job of applying pressure and they make it difficult to attack as a team,” MHS head coach Sam Snyder said. “The pressure was there for them, they played a smart game and we knew what we wanted to do but we just didn’t execute.”
“It was a typical Morgantown game, it’s always competitive with them,” UHS head coach Michael Smith said. “They are very disciplined. Our guys stayed true to the job at hand and got it done. Daniel had one heck of a free kick as well. We couldn’t really score but we’ve been putting some more in there recently. I think we had an advantage tonight pressing their back line more than usual.”
The Hawks will return home on Saturday for a match against Musselman at noon.
MHS will play Tuesday against John Marshall on the road.
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