MORGANTOWN — Four games into the season, the University High School girls’ soccer team is still searching for its identity.
Veteran head coach Graham Peace moved several of his primary scorers from past seasons into the defensive backfield to protect the goal.
That has left the Hawks (2-1-1) searching for offense.
On Thursday, junior Emerson Cunningham provided that offensive spark as she tallied a goal and an assist in a 3-1 victory over visiting Linsly.
“Emerson is sneaky smart,” Peace said. “I call her the silent assassin. She just finds space and she plays great balls. She finishes when she sees the net.”
Cunningham came off the bench for Thursday’s match and quickly put UHS up 1-0 with 26:34 left in the first half. She was able to corral a loose ball in the box, worked around a Linsly defender and put the ball into the top right corner.
“We have some very fast forwards, and we look to play through balls for them,” UHS midfielder Kenya Huckaby said. “They can then play it back or go through to the goal. We can also make runs on those through balls and overlap each other.”
UHS held the 1-0 lead into halftime before scoring just seven minutes into the second half.
This time, it was Cunningham setting up senior Olivia Metzner.
Cunningham dribbled the ball down the right side and then placed a nice cross into the box that Metzner was able to get a foot on and put in the lower left corner.
Peace said he was happy that he was able to try different players in different roles and he was also happy with how his team controlled the ball in their offensive third for much of the game.
“We do need to learn how to finish better,” Peace said. “It’s a work in progress. We worked in a lot of backups today and a lot of freshmen played. They need to learn to play the game, and this was an opportunity to put a lot of players into a game-like situation and get them some experience.”
Linsly head coach Alexis McKeown said she was happy to see her team only allow the three goals despite UHS controlling the ball for much of the game.
“I think we worked well come off our past three games,” McKeown said. “We are coming together as a team and working well.”
University finished off its scoring with 18:10 left in the contest as sophomore Avery Alexander collected a carom off a defender and slipped the ball past the goalkeeper who was coming out of the net.
The Cadets (1-4-0) were able to score a goal with just over five minutes left in the contest.
Cali Blass got a foot on a loose ball in front of the UHS net and shot it past the Hawks’ keeper.
“We are happy with the win,” Peace said. “This was a game where we thought we could get more people in, so we focused on that.”
UHS travels to Steubenville (Oh.) on Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest.
By ERIC HERTER/For The Dominion Post
VOLLEYBALL
MOUNDSVILLE — Morgantown (11-1) traveled to Moundsville for the teams’ first sectional dual of the season versus John Marshall.
The Freshmen and Junior Varsity teams started out the night with some excitement as both teams lost their first set and then won their next two. Freshmen won 11-25, 27-25, 25-23 and JV won 22-25, 25-11, 25-23.
Varsity handled John Marshall in three sets (25-18, 25-17, 25-16). Audrey Buck had 33 assists and 4 aces. Leah Greeny had 11 kills on 19 attempts, hitting above .500 for the night. Grace Robinson had 12 digs.
The Mohigans will travel next to Upper Saint Clair (Pa.) on Saturday, Sept. 7 for a varsity tournament. Some future opponents may also cross their path next Saturday as Hedgesville and North Allegheny (Pa.) will also participate.
