Maroon Knights Girls Complete Dominant OVAC Run With 1A-3A Crown
Trending
WHEELING -- Though the end result was what Wheeling Central had been working towards all throughout the season to this point, in their OVAC 1A-3A championship run, the Maroon Knights made things look easy.
After a 10-0 victory in the semifinals, the top-seeded Knights claimed their third-straight OVAC crown with a 7-0 shutout of No. 2 United on Saturday on the turf at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Outscoring your conference tournament opponents 17-0 only came from thorough preparation though, head coach Bill Konkle said.
"We watch a lot of film on our opponents, and then we take what we learn about them into practice each day, and we work on our possession and how we can find ways to attack with our quick 1-2 passing. We try to also, if that gets taken away, to go out wide with it. Every day at practice, we’re just trying to figure out ways to attack the goal and it was successful this week."
Wheeling Central was rarely challenged on their way to their three-peat, a victory which moved them to 14-1 on the season.
"Yeah this was a three-peat," Coach Konkle confirmed. "The seniors, they’ve been here, winning these games since their sophomore year. They wanted to keep that tradition going, so all week that was the focus, winning it for them."
Central's seniors includes Addi Hanson, Madigan Smith, Bella Fitzsimmons, Kendall Schmitt and Kaila Blatt.
Loni Kusic led the way for the Maroon's point-scoring efforts with a hat trick, while Elah Konkle had a brace of goals. Elizabeth Steele and Madigan Smith also each scored for Central in the rout.
Elah Konkle led the team with three assists, while Kusic and Steele also dished out assists.
Fitzsimmons recorded eight saves to preserve a clean sheet for the Knights.
Saturday had a special meaning for Konkle and his team.
"We actually were dedicating the game today to my neighbor Ronnie Barker, who had passed away, and he had maintained this field for many years for Ohio County Schools," Konkle said. "So we wanted to honor him, since we were playing on this field. The girls all had wristbands with his initials on it to honor him. So, it was exciting that they were kind of playing for something more than just the OVAC tournament today."
With yet another conference title in-tow, Wheeling Central resumes their regular season schedule, hosting Hiland (4-4-2) on Tuesday.