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Central On To OVAC Title

Wayt nets 100th career goal

Photo by Cody Tomer Wheeling Central captain Addyson Thomas moves the ball down the field against Steubenville Central on Monday at Wheeling Jesuit.

WHEELING–There were two main goals for Wheeling Central’s girls’ soccer team Tuesday night, get senior standout Kenadee Wayt her 100th goal of her career and advance to the team’s third consecutive Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class A/AAA championship game.

The first one came less than a minute and a half into the top-seeded Maroon Knights’ semifinal match with Steubenville Central and while the second was all but in hand midway through the second half it was celebrated at the conclusion of the contest.

Wayt scored the first of her three goals just 1:26 into the contest, and added Central’s next two, and the Knights pulled away down the stretch to record an 8-1 triumph over the Crusaders on Bishop Schmitt Field on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University.

Coach Julie Barack and her 9-3 record club will have to wait until Thursday night to find out who their opponent will be in Saturday’s 2 p.m. championship game as the Knights look to defend their title. Linsly and Weirton Madonna will battle for that spot with the winner taking on Central.

“That should be a great game and either way I believe that Saturday’s championship will be a great game as well,” Barack said. “We have played Madonna a couple of times this season and Linsly would be a rematch of last year’s game.”

Already sitting at a school record 99 goals for her illustrious career Wayt drilled a shot from 25-yards out that beat Steubenville Central (1-9) keeper Bri DeChristopher to the right corner of the net for a quick 1-0 advantage.

Wayt’s second tally came at the 26:07 mark on a rebound following a nice DeChristopher save that made it a 2-0 score that managed to stand up at the half.

“Kenadee is so fast and can do so much with the ball, she really just does so much that you can’t even teach her as a coach,” Barack said. “I really don’t know how she does some of the things she does, but she is a state champion in track and she uses her speed so well.

“And one of the things that makes up tough to play is that we have her sister Ireland on the other end and her speed is such a big influence on our defense.”

While Coach Katrina Fabian’s Crusaders did not manage a shot in the first half DeChristopher did her best to help keep her team in the contest with four saves. The senior dandy finished the contest with 12 saves, over half of them on outstanding plays.

The visitors actually did a good job moving the ball all over the field, until they got near the box when the defense was too much for them.

“Our defense is lights out,” Barack said. “We are fast and experienced with two seniors in the back, a sophomore with years of experience and a freshman who has played defense for a while. They are our core unit that has played together for most of the season.

“They are very fast and very skilled and when the other team gets around the net they take over.”

Once again it was Wayt getting the scoring started in the second half, but she didn’t feel like waiting as long this time, finding a loose ball in the box and banging it in just 1:04 in for a 3-0 reading.

With DeChristopher doing a fine job Steubenville Central found a little life when senior Christine Dombroski took a pass from sophomore Ali Grimm and drilled it into the net to cut the deficit to 3-1 with 26:58 to play.

However, from that point on it was all Maroon Knights as five different girls found the scoring column. On Central’s fifth corner kick of the half junior Elisabeth Bockstoce knocked in their fourth goal at the 23-minute mark.

Just under 10 minutes later sophomore Sydney Mansuetto found the back of the net and things were well in hand with a 5-1 advantage and only 13:21 showing on the clock.

Senior Addyson Thomas, sophomore Abigail Gerney and freshman Molly Brown finished off the scoring over the final 11 minutes to provide the final.

“I know we scored eight goals but give their keeper a lot of credit she was very good and very impressive and I really hope that she is a senior,” Barack said.

“Now we just get to sit back, go watch the other game Thursday night and see who we will be playing. I do like the fact that we get a couple of extra days off to rest up and prepare for Saturday and don’t have to play in that Thursday night game.”

Even in defeat Fabian remained proud of her team.

“I am really proud of our girls,” Fabian said. “We had some nice touches and hit them hard and made them work early, I honestly don’t know if they expected that.

“And as always Bri (DeChristopher) did a great job and really stood out for us. She seen a lot of shots (Tuesday) and made some really nice saves.”

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