MORGANTOWN — The University High School boys’ soccer team has enjoyed a positive start to their 2024 campaign with five wins in eight games.
Although the momentum halted slightly on Thursday night against Wheeling Park in an 8-1 defeat on a perfect evening at Mylan Pharmaceutical Stadium, head coach Michael Smith and his players feel that the scoreline against the likes of a top team such as the Patriots doesn’t quite reflect the performance the Hawks produced on the field.
“The most challenging thing is getting them to realize what happened on the field before seeing the score and hanging their head,” Smith said. “I’m not sure I, as the coach, had us ready to play like I needed to, which was apparent at the beginning of the game.”
It took WP just under eight minutes to break the ice with the game’s opening goal by sophomore Graham Loy after an excellent play down the right wing by his teammate Sam Rockey, who played the ball into the box.
The Patriots added their second 90 seconds later as senior standout Tresz McLeod converted a nice solo effort to double the lead.
His younger brother, Rynder, added the third goal of the first half for the visitors with 27:25 left in the first half.
“We came out firing tonight;,our strikers have been solid this year so far,” WP head coach Mario Julian said. “Tresz is just a special player and makes everyone around him better. University is a strong team that controls the midfield well, and that is much improved. I thought they had a few players that were particularly strong for them.”
The Hawks then settled into the match and stopped the bleeding, finding an answer to the early Park flurry with a goal of their own at the 23:47 mark from senior striker Josh Espinoza who gathered the ball inside the box after a deflection by the WP goalkeeper and poked it home to cut the deficit to two goals 3-1.
But the Patriots proved why they are one of the better sides in the state in Class AAA and responded with three more goals before the break. Another was from Tresz McLeod, and two were from striker Wilson Hanna, who each also provided a pair of assists with three goals in the contest.
McLeod added his third early in the second half and exited the match, but the Hawks settled down and played well throughout the second half, nearly scoring multiple chances. Hanna added his third goal with just under ten minutes left to seal Park’s 8-1 result.
“We got some good experience playing one of the best teams in the state,” Smith said. “We can’t hang our heads over one game and have to return for another game on Saturday.”
UHS will return home on Saturday at noon to host South Charleston.
