WELLSBURG - The difference between winning and losing big games usually comes down to who capitalizes on the most opportunities.
Saturday at Brooke High School, the Weir girls' soccer team made the most of its chances on its way to a 5-0 victory against Oak Glen. The triumph gave the Red Riders their fourth straight West Virginia Class AA-A Region One, Section One championship.
"For our seniors they know how it feels to be freshmen and going all the way through," Weir coach Jessica Naughton said. "It's great. They were ready nd it was definitely a nice win."
Weir got on the board first time 8;41 into the action when Mikayla Zias sent a corner kick toward the net and Alyssa Shingle poked the ball past Oak Glen goaltender Erin Fields.
About 15 minutes in it appeared the Golden Bears tied the score, but a Paige Smearman shot ricocheted of the crossbar and was ruled to not have crossed for a goal.
"We had a lot of opportunities, we just couldn't make them click today," Oak Glen coach Jennifer Loveland said.
The score remained 1-0 until 7:14 left in the first half. At that time Megan Finton took a pass from Carly Lescallette and crushed it to the left of Fields for the 2-0 Red Riders lead.
Less than 2 minutes later it was 3-0. Shingle scored her second goal of the game when she punched the ball in off a crossing pass from Morgan Cassels.
The Golden Bears started fast in the second half. Megan Collins made great moves on two occasions early in the half and appeared to have Weir goaltender Taylor Gianangeli in trouble, but both times the Red Riders escaped unscathed.
"They had a positive attitude," Loveland said. "They never quit trying or pushing and gave 100 percent.
"They did a wonderful job, we just couldn't make it click."
With 26:57 left in the match, Weir expanded the lead yet again. Lescallette took a Finton pass and beat both a defender and the goalie and put the ball in left to right for the score and a 4-0 lead.
"We were passing and moving the ball well," Naughton said.
"We're used to playing on a smaller field. With the wider field, once we settled in Carly and Alyssa did great and Megan was hitting ball through left and right so the wideness of the field was definitley nice for them."
