Wheeling Central Girls Rally Past Steubenville In Soccer
Maroon Knights Trailed 2-0, 3-2; Win 5-3 Over Big Red
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EAST WHEELING - With a West Virginia Class A/AA state championship on its resume from last fall, the Wheeling Central girls' soccer team knows it is going to get every opponent's best shot.
Saturday on the artificial pitch at the sun-soaked J.B. Chambers Memorial Field on 16th Street, the Maroon Knights had to rally, not once but twice, in claiming their season opener.
Wheeling Central trailed 2-0 early in the first half and then 3-2 near the same point in the second half before tallying the final three goals in a 5-3 victory over visiting Steubenville.
"Steubenville did a great job. They came in here with a lot of intensity and forced our girls to make numerous passes that weren't connecting well," Wheeling Central head coach Bill Konkle said. "Their game plan was to play us physically and not let us get comfortable, but to have the end results and five goals, I'm very pleased with the outcome."
On the short end of a 3-2 count after Big Red sophomore Jaylin Crites completed her hat trick, the Maroon Knights responded moments later with a goal from Kusic. The junior let loose a laser from 20 yards out that zipped past diving goalkeeper Jodeci Green.
Approximately 10 minutes later, Kusic was at it again as she used her left foot to beat Green once again, making it 4-3.
Wheeling Central capped the scoring when Maddie Steele connected with Elizabeth Steele who pounded the ball into the net.
"Coming in we knew that Wheeling Central was the defending state champions and they had a lot of players returning from that team," Steubenville head coach Annie Cutri said. "We were expecting a tough game and it was a battle of tactics in a way."
Steubenville grabbed the early lead on a pair of goals by Crites, both the result of some hard work and fortunate bounces. She stormed down the middle of the box only to see her shot denied, however, the rebound caromed off of her body and bounced over top of Wheeling Central goalkeeper Bella Fitzsimmons before ending up in the net for a 1-0 reading. Moments later, she pounded home a loose ball as the margin increased to 2-0.
Despite neither goal heading for a highlight reel, Cutri will take them.
"A goal is a goal. We'll take whatever we can get," she said. "We're still vibing ... trying to figure out our formation. It's early in the season."
The Maroon Knights responded quickly as Kusic used her left foot to go to the far corner from the left wing to slice the deficit in half. Then, on the very next shot, Maddie Steele got the equalizer and the contest remained that way until the second half.
Crites charged down the middle of the field with Maroon Knights in hot pursuit. Fitzsimmons came out to challenge but somehow Crites put the ball behind her and into the cage.
"She's 100 percent capable of doing that," Cutri said of Crites' three-goal performance.
However, Steubenville will not threaten again as both teams made adjustments.
"Once we tied it up we tightened up defensively, saw what they were trying to do and made the adjustments to keep them from doing that," Konkle added. "We were trying to get more offense going, but they (Steubenville) did a good job of closing up the middle and not allowing us to get through, so it made it difficult for us to attack, as well."
Kusic finished with a hat trick as Big Red concentrated on taking away Elah Konkle.
"Loni had a good game. We have the ability with different girls that we can move to different positions if they are getting marked," Coach Konkle said. "If they're being played tight in the middle of the field, we can move them outside a little to get more scoring opportunities from them."
Logging assists for the Maroon Knights were Maddie Steele, Elizabeth Steele, Addi hanson, Addie Jackson and Kusic.
Wheeling Central enjoyed a 14-6 advantage in shots, with eight coming in the second half to just two by Steubenville.
"We shifted our defensive line a little bit and that left less offense up top," she explained. "As a coach who has to make decisions. It didn't work out for us today, but we're happy."
Fitzsimmons stopped four shots and Green finished with nine saves.
Wheeling Central travels to Shinnston on Tuesday to meet Lincoln in a rematch of last year's state championship match.