Wheeling Central Secures Their Goal In Regional Title Win Over Williamstown
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WHEELING -- After a 10-0 win vs. St. Marys and a 7-0 win over Oak Glen in the WVSSAC Class AA/A Region 1 Tournament, things were much tighter Thursday for the top-seeded Wheeling Central Maroon Knights in their bid to claim the regional crown and punch their ticket to next week's state tournament.
Facing No. 2 Williamstown in the Regional Finals, the Maroon Knights came away with a 1-0 victory on 16th Street Field to return to the state tournament, due to begin on Nov. 4 at Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex in Beckley.
"It's been the goal," Wheeling Central head coach Brian Komorowski said of his team’s state tournament berth.
Wheeling Central can say 'Mission Accomplished' thanks to a set piece in the first half. About 10 minutes into Thursday's game, senior Dawson Zwack launched a ball some 40 yards away from the goal-- and junior Maddox Ochap converted the deep pass into a score, the lone tally of the game, in the play of the game.
"It was a great set piece," Komorowski said. "Dawson Zwack had a great ball. Maddox Ochap finished the ball. We’ve been working on set pieces for a while, and it just-- we figured that was going to be the way we were going to get a goal tonight."
On the other side, keeper Santino Sperlazza and the Central defense held Williamstown off the scoreboard for all 80 minutes-- the 13th Maroon shutout of the season.
Wheeling Central were state runners-up last season, falling to St. Joseph Central in the Class AA/A championship.
Komorowski and Co. are expecting more tough matchups, but they wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
"The teams are really good down there," Komorowski said. "We don’t know who we’re gonna play, and every team presents a different problem, so it depends on who we play first, but we get a week to prepare, and we’ll be ready for them."