MORGANTOWN – Ashleigh Weaver already had two sisters when she started to attend Morgantown High School in the fall of 2018.
She will graduate this spring with six more.
Weaver, a member of the MHS girls’ soccer team, along with her biological sister, Amanda, recently won the Class AAA state title to cap off a four-year run with the Mohigans.
“We are all sisters,” Ashleigh said. “They all push me on and off the field. I can definitely say we are family. We are there for each other when we have stuff going on in our lives. We have good times and we hang out all of the time out of school and at school.”
This season’s state title was a bookend for eight of the seniors on the team as all of them entered MHS in 2018 and also won the state title during their freshman season. Those eight seniors were: the two Weaver sisters, Georgia Blake, Madysen Scheller, Meghan Wolfarth, Kinslee Watkins, Cloe Ratliff and Zofia Sablosky.
“Freshman year, we weren’t the leaders,” Blake, who played center back, said. “We all had bigger roles this year. We had to make sure we were on top of everything and make sure that we were leaders on and off the field.”
Scheller, the goalkeeper, did not play in the title game as a freshman, but she said both title contests were intense. However, she did say that this year was obviously a contest that she enjoyed considering that she saved one penalty kick and almost another in the Mohigans’ 2-1 overtime victory.
“I was able to help carry my team to a win,” Scheller said. “Having a purpose definitely impacts how you feel about a game.”
Amanda Weaver, who played midfield for the 21-1-1 Mohigans, has bittersweet memories of both state titles. During her freshman year, she was forced to miss the contest because of an injury. Things were going well for her in 2022 until an ACL injury during the sectional contest against Wheeling Park finished her senior season as well.
Still, Amanda said the senior season was special because all eight of the seniors have grown up playing together.
“My freshman year, my older sister (Alyssa) was on the team, and we learned a lot from her,” Amanda said. “But we needed to win this game, we couldn’t finish what we started our sophomore or junior years. This was the icing on the cake.”
Several of the eight seniors have played together on a Morgantown-based club team that has changed names over the years. They have also won numerous state titles playing for that club team. So, they were prepared for the big moments when they came during their four years at MHS.
That ability to rise to the occasion was spotted early on by MHS head coach Stirlin Rivers.
“I knew they were special when they were coming to high school,” Rivers, who coached his final game at MHS in the state title contest, said. “They all played in the club that I coach. I knew they were state champ in the travel level, so coming into high school, I knew they were as talented as some of the best in the state.”
That pressure of performing at the highest level, especially early on in their careers, wasn’t lost on the girls. Wolfarth, Watkins, Ratliff, and Ashleigh Weaver all played in the championship contest. While all four said that freshmen experience was great, they also admit that winning a title in their senior season was the highlight.
“I didn’t really know what to expect as a freshman,” Wolfarth said. “My senior year, I knew what to expect. I knew it was going to be exciting because we had a chance to win everything.”
Sablosky, who didn’t play in the title game as a freshman, said that winning the title – and playing in the game as a senior – showed her how much she has grown as a player.
“It was a great way to see how much I have improved,” Sablosky said. “I remember when I was a freshman and I thought (MHS) was so good and hard to (practice) against. It was eye-opening to see how much I have improved. It was amazing.”
The improved play and the chemistry all eight have built over the years was also key for the 2022 state championship.
“This senior title means more,” Watkins said. “We worked so hard towards it. This season we set a goal to win a title and it is such a relief to win it. Our chemistry was so special, and we are all so close with each other.”
Now that the seniors have two state titles to claim many of them say they will look fondly back at their time on the MHS team.
“I’m sure we will be doing a lot of reminiscing over the next weeks, months and years,” Ratliff said. “I know we are all going to be friends 10 years from now. This was something special.”
By Eric Herter
TWEET — @DomPostSports
