MORGANTOWN – Morgantown High began its run for the Class AAA state championship in convincing fashion Monday night, beginning sectional play with an 11-0 victory against John Marshall at Pony Lewis Field.
The Mohigans were the better team from the opening whistle to the final horn, as the Monarchs (3-14-1) were simply outmatched in the contest against one of the best sides in the entire state.
MHS will now host Wheeling Park at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday for the sectional title.
Morgantown High (15-1-1) netted 66 goals in the regular season, averaging just under four a game. The Mohigans were well past their average before halftime, with sophomore Railey Reeves scoring a hat trick — two came in the first half — and Emily Carpenter and Ariana Borneo each added two scores.
Megan Wolfarth scored the first of the 11 goals after only six minutes were played. The senior finished a shot after a well-worked pass into the box.
The second and third goals would then come back-to-back and both off of the foot of Carpenter. She simply stole the ball from the Monarchs’ defenders on both occasions and found herself one-on-one with the John Marshall keeper, scoring each time. She also added two assists.
MHS head coach Stirlin Rivers praised the effort of his players to play together and get everyone involved in the game.
“The girls played a very disciplined game today. No player tried to do too much with the ball,” he said after the game. “They moved the ball very well and took the chances and because of that we were able to rest some players.”
Now, the Mohigans will continue on to the next round of sectionals before playing in the regional tournament. However, Rivers knows that as long as they do what they’ve done all year and do some adjusting along the way, nothing can stop them.
“Every game we treat it as a do or die type of situation,” he said. “We are ready to play our style of soccer but are also ready to adapt to anything that comes our way. We know that it’s not necessarily the best team that always wins, but it’s the team that wants it more. The girls are really hyped up for the game on Wednesday.”
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