Clay Meredith’s Boot Lifts Wheeling Park Past Morgantown in Double OT in OVAC Boys Soccer Tournament
Senior’s direct kick goal in final minute sends Patriots to title game
Trending
WHEELING -- As a defender, Wheeling Park's Clay Meredith doesn't find the back of the net very often. In fact, going into Thursday's night's OVAC Class 5A semifinal matchup against Morgantown, the senior only had one goal on his career.
However, his second could have been the biggest goal for the Patriots this year.
On a direct kick, Meredith tallied the golden goal with 58.8 seconds left in double overtime to send Wheeling Park to the 5A championship game with a 2-1 victory over the Mohigans at Wheeling Island Stadium.
"Right when we got the free kick, my coach called me over and said, 'Clay, insert it with your left foot, put it under the bar and you're going to score,'" Meredith said. "I was like, 'OK.' I went over to the ball, I got everyone away, got in my zone and made my shot.
"I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous, but I knew I could do it. I've done it at practice a lot. Just had the right mentality and put it right in the net."
With the victory, Wheeling Park will take on University in the 5A championship game Saturday at St. Clairsville High School.
"(Clay) works really, really hard," Wheeling Park coach Mario Julian said. "He's a special, special player. I think you saw once they tied the game, I think our seniors really stepped up there. Especially in the last 15 minutes of regulation and overtime."
The Patriots also got on the board first when Cole Meredith had a highlight reel of a goal. The junior midfielder controlled the ball downfield, then slid under a defender while still controlling the ball, got up and tapped the ball in the back of the net as the score read, 1-0, in favor of the Patriots right before the 20-minute mark in the first half.
"I thought we played a really good first half," Julian said. "I think we could of had a couple goal lead, but I knew Morgantown was going to be better. They're improving, I think they may had a couple of injuries the first time we played them. And the way they came out in the second half, they possessed the ball and passed the ball nice.
"They got that equalizer and I think once they scored, we started to get back in our game. Maybe we were playing a little conservative, just trying to hold the lead, but I think Morgantown has a really nice midfield and they caused us some problems."
During the 16th minute of the second half, the Mohigans tied the game when Joseph Taylor kicked a perfect shot that was just out of Zach Calvert's reach.
Calvert had three saves while Morgantown goalkeeper Carter Cave tallied seven.
With just more than 13 minutes, to play, the Mohigans looked to take the lead, but a shot that went over the crossbar. Shortly afterwards, Park looked like they had an answer. Cole Meredith had a good shot on goal as he was able to get behind the goalkeeper as he attempted a shot. However, Aidan Pfeifer made a sliding save preventing the ball from going in.
"Park is one of the best teams in the state," Morgantown coach Sam Snyder said. "They're phenomenal and their press is outstanding. They keep possession the majority of the game. Last time we played them, I don't think we had more than four string of passes over five passes.
"(Thursday), we looked like a team that could possession against them. The second half, we just played the right way. It was our best half of the season."