#28 Tristen Bright tries to keep the ball away from #10 Alyssa Weaver and #6 Georgia Blake. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#28 Asleigh Weaver keeps the ball from going out of bounds. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#18 Morgan Ryan tries to keep the ball away from #3 Anna Rose Iquinto. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#3 Anna Rose Iquinto controls the ball. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#13 Gracie Brown moves the ball forward while #9 Mia Travis and #18 Morgan Ryan follow behind her. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#13 Gracie Brown tries to keep the ball away from #18 Morgan Ryan. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#42 Elizabeth Edwards yells out commands to her team mates. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#16 Kinslee Watkins controls the ball. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH 
#16 Kinslee Watkins and #11 Amanda Weaver run towards #22 Madysen scheller to celebrate a goal. UHS VS MHS 9-30-20 GH
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Beginning a title defense is something teams think about all offseason, hoping to relive that feeling at the end of the season. Getting off on the right foot is one of the most important steps in the process, and for the Morgantown High girls’ soccer team, it ended up having to do it twice.
The Mohigans, who won the 2019 state championship last November, started their season Sept. 3 at John Marshall with a big win. The next day, Monongalia County entered the red designation on the COVID-19 map, suspending the season just as it began.
For nearly two weeks, no teams in the county could even practice, let alone play games. Finally, on Sept. 17, Mon County reached orange, which allowed teams to practice but not play. Then, on Sept. 25 with a reworking of the map and how it’s formulated, Mon County moved all the way down to green.
It was game on, and as a way to make up for lost time, MHS scheduled an inter-county game with University, played Wednesday night at UHS. Needing to get off to a good start for a second time, the Mohigans took care of business in a 4-1 win.
“We have high expectations of them since they are defending state champs,” UHS assistant coach Kim Mellie said. “We’ve practiced, we’ve worked — they’ve worked hard — it’s just been great and we have a lot of talent.”
MHS (2-0) does have a lot of returning talent, but it is without star Sammie Brown, who is now playing for the University of Auburn and was named the state player of the year by the West Virginia High School Soccer Coaches Association.
In the win over the Hawks, though, four different Mohigans scored goals — Megan Wolfarth, Michaela August, Ashleigh Weaver and Anna Iquinto. Mellie said seniors Alyssa Weaver and Iquinto have stepped up in Brown’s absence.
Another Brown, Sammie’s little sister Gracie, is playing center-mid for the Mohigans as a freshman.
MHS will host Buckhannon-Upshur today, attempting to catch up after missing nearly four weeks compared to the rest of the state.
The same can be said for the Hawks, who went through the gauntlet to begin their return to action. On Tuesday, they faced No. 1 Parkersburg South, falling 4-0, then had to face the defending state champions the next day in MHS.
The Hawks did secure a win against Wheeling Central before sports were shut down.
While it wasn’t easy, UHS coach Graham Peace hopes getting game action under his team’s belt will help as the season rolls on.
“It was a bit much for us, but hey, why not jump full force right back into the pool?” Peace said. “We played a better game [against Parkersburg South] than we did tonight. Part of it is, we’re just not game fit, so we weren’t ready to go. We do have some injuries, but that’s not an excuse. MHS was just a much better soccer team than us.
“The difference was they just wanted it more than we did, and that’s what we’ve been talking about with the team — you have to come out ready to play every single night. Tonight, we weren’t ready to play, and that’s totally on me as the coach. I didn’t have them ready to go.”
UHS (1-2) jumped out to a 1-0 lead over the Mohigans in the first half on a goal from Emily Lattea. However, MHS answered with two in the first half, and added two more early in the second.
The Hawks will get a chance to rebound Thursday, traveling to Preston to take on the Knights at 7:30 p.m.
