Wheeling Park Boys Win Tune Up Match vs. St. Clairsville, 1-0
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE - Every coach, no matter the sport, wants to win every game their team plays. St. Clairsville's Jeff Roberts and Wheeling Park's Mario Julian are among the aforementioned.
However, both veteran head coaches knew Wednesday night's boys' soccer match on the soggy artificial pitch inside Red Devil Stadium was basically a warmup for their respective postseasons.
In 80 minutes, the two reigning OVAC Class 4A (Red Devils) and Class 5A (Patriots) champions combined for a mere four shots on goal, with Wheeling Park (12-3-4) with the lone shot finding the back of the net for a 1-0 victory.
Isaac Welling scored in the 21st minute off an assist from Tristan Gonzalez and Jacob Robinson III stopped the one shot St. Clairsville (11-6) could muster.
"We're not scoring, so I'm not happy with that angle," Julian said. "I was happy with the way we moved the ball. We controlled the ball and made good passes. The ball just isn't going in right now."
The Patriots, who will learn their Class AAAA North Region fate Friday, according to Julian. They have scored just two goals in their last five matches.
"We're snake bit. We did have a tough schedule down the stretch. St. Clairsville is always a tough opponent," Julian said. "We were happy to get the win."
Despite the narrow loss, Roberts was very pleased with the way his unit played.
"We wanted to challenge ourselves against an outstanding team that can move the ball everywhere. We wanted to work on our defensive shape and our ability to rise up to their speed, and I am extremely proud of them.
"We were able to limit them to three shots, but the one shot was a banger," Roberts declared. "Nothing that anybody could do about it. We actually had a couple of opportunities that we couldn't capitalize upon."
One that jumped out was when scoring phenom James Parsons got behind the back wall, but his final touch before shooting got away from him and rolled out of play.
"James was so close. Just an unlucky touch," Roberts recalled.
St. Clairsville senior Lucas Causey was injured in the 10th minute and was helped off the pitch. He was later seen leaving the stadium on crutches. Roberts said he had no word on the extent of the injury, only that "he went to get x-rays."
While Wheeling Park's postseason path is yet to be determined, third-seeded St. Clairsville will host No. 11 Edison on Thursday, Oct. 22 at 6:30 p.m. in Division IV, Region 15 East 2 action.