MORGANTOWN — The 2024 fall sports season is underway around the Mountain State and the Morgantown High School girls’ and boys’ soccer teams each kicked off their campaigns with a victory over visiting Buckhannon-Upshur on a perfect evening at Pony Lewis Field.
The Mohigan boys began the evening with a dominant 9-0 victory over the Buccaneers and were followed by the ladies, who defeated BU 5-0 in the nightcap under the lights.
The MHS boys controlled the majority of the game from the opening whistle and scored six of their nine goals in the second half. Six different players scored a goal for the Mohigans led by senior winger Riley Brabson who provided a hat trick while also providing two assists.
“I thought we were good with our shape and getting behind the ball tonight,” MHS head coach Sam Snyder said. “We were a little disconnected in the midfield defensively at times, but that’s to be expected early in the season with players adapting to some different roles for us. We improved as the game went on and tightened some things up which is positive to see.”
The opening 15 minutes of the match didn’t see a goal but saw plenty of chances for MHS to break the ice with multiple passes in dangerous areas that went untouched.
Eventually, the Mohigans broke through with a free kick at the top of the box that was buried in the corner by senior Aidan Stire for the first goal of the game and a 1-0 lead for MHS.
It only took three minutes for MHS to add its second goal, this time on a corner kick sent in by Brabson that bounced around in front of the goal before senior Alex Gonzalez-Tanon nudged the ball across the line. The Mohigans added their third just before the halftime break as Brabson put his name on the scoresheet with a left-footed finish from the top of the box.
“We were good going forward and I like the runs that we were making,” Snyder said. “Having experience like we do helps in those phases of the game. I do think we let too many chances go untaken, particularly in the first half but overall like the threat we generated in the attacking half.”
MHS added a fourth goal less than five minutes into the second half as Rayyan Hanif finished a nice move around the keeper. The Mohigans went on to add five more goals in the second half to win the game 9-0.
The MHS girls enter the 2024 season as back-to-back defending state champions in Class AAA and are poised to defend their title.
It didn’t take long into the first half to find their first goal of the 2024 campaign as junior striker Ella Miller ran onto a through ball played from the midfield and tucked the ball into the far corner with her left foot to open the scoring less than ten minutes into the game.
The Mohigans added their second goal with a goal from senior Lilly Staples as she was played into the box with a threaded pass from Ariana Borneo for a 2-0 lead.
Borneo then provided the third goal for MHS with a laser from the top of the box that found the back of the net with five minutes until the half. MHS took a 4-0 lead into the locker room.
Staples added her second goal to extend the lead to 5-0 midway through the second half and held their shutout to win the season opener by the same score.
Both the boys and girls will return to Pony Lewis for home matches this week as the girls host Stone Ridge on Friday evening and the boys host Woodrow Wilson at noon on Saturday.
GIRLS SOCCER
University, 1 Lewis County 0
MORGANTOWN — An astute play by Mairin Gillispie and Avery Alexander gave University a victory over Lewis County on the opening night of the season.
After a scoreless first half dominated by the defenses, the Hawks increased the pressure as the second half went on. With 13 minutes to play, Gillispie quickly retrieved a ball that went out of bounds for a throw-in and found Alexander breaking behind the defense. The sophomore held off two defenders and placed the ball into the corner of the Minutemen net for the only goal of the game.
University almost doubled their lead when a Kenya Huckaby shot found the post after an excellent pass from Auriana Kiani, but the Hawks locked the game down from there and held on for the deserved win.
Goaltender Ila Roberts picked up the shutout with three saves in the first start of her career. UHS next plays on Saturday at 2 p.m. at home against Brooke.
GOLF
UNIONTOWN, Pa. — The University golf team won a road match at Uniontown Country Club on Wednesday, defeating Laurel Highlands 202-220, in a 9-hole match that counted the best five out of eight scores.
The three best scores in the match were all 39s from UHS players Adam Argabrite, Owen Estel and Will Biddington. Other UHS Scores were Evan Toler (42), Jagger Barnes (43), Abby Kingora (44), Noah Kleeh (45) and Max Travis (46).
The Mustangs were led by Tyler Cook and Sevi Vecchiolla who each shot 40. The Hawks will visit Bridgeport on Thursday to plan a 9-hole match against the Indians at 4 p.m. at Bridgeport Country Club.
