MORGANTOWN — The soccer game between Trinity Christian and Wheeling Central Catholic on Thursday atop the hill in Sabraton was about as exciting as a 0-0 draw can be.
It wasn’t so much that neither side was able to score a goal, more that neither the Warriors (6-3-1) nor Maroon Knights (6-1-2) allowed one.
“It was a really, really well-played game,” Trinity coach Dan Lohmann said. “It was a great high school soccer game. This was a fun game to watch because both teams competed really well and there was a lot of good soccer out there.”
Both sides had their share of quality chances, Trinity early and Wheeling Central late, but strong defense and goalie play preserved the dual clean sheet.
“We could’ve played 20 more minutes and I don’t think there would have been a goal,” Wheeling Central coach Brian Komorowski said. “I thought in the last five minutes we probably had the best opportunity, but their goalie made an unbelievable save.”
The best chance of the night came in the final three minutes as the Maroon Knights got a quality shot off from the right corner of the box, but Trinity keeper Parker Hopkins made a diving save to keep the ball out of the net.
“You know you’re going to have to come up with a big save sometime against Wheeling Central, they always press you,” Lohmann said. “He got back with some really quick feet, so even though he dove, it was his feet that got him to the spot.”
Wheeling Central thought it had a goal in the first half when a header got over Hopkins, but it was disallowed as the player was called offsides.
The Maroon Knights also had chances just before halftime, taking two corner kicks and a throw-in in the final 50 seconds. All three chances were cleared by the Trinity defense.
Hopkins, who now has four shutouts on the season, finished with eight saves. Wheeling Central’s Tino Sperlazza was just as impressive, finishing with four saves.
Both keepers benefitted from near error-free defense in front of them.
“You could technically say there was this or that, but when there’s no goals given up, that’s the good thing,” Komorowski said. “It was a good game.”
For Trinity, Lohmann gave praise to his entire back line of Brayden Clampffer, Mason Rodeheaver and Thomas Dinkel.
“We’ve made a move to go to three at the back and they’ve really responded and come up with some big stops,” Lohmann said.
Komorowski praised his midfield of Dom Gianangeli, Mason Schmitt, Linkan Marler and Maddox Ochap.
While both sides would have preferred to pick up a win, Lohmann said playing to a draw against a good team still brings positives.
“What we talked to them about was to not focus on the scoreboard, but to focus on the effort,” he said. “I saw a ton of effort out of our team tonight…At this point in the season, we just want to see ourselves improving.”
Trinity will wait to see its seeding for next week’s OVAC semifinals. Wheeling Central will test itself with a game against Robert C. Byrd on Saturday. The Maroon Knights sit atop the OVAC Class 1A-3A standings while the Warriors are in third place.
