Park Girls Set For State Tournament
Patriots will battle George Washington Friday in semis
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WHEELING -- The Wheeling Park girls soccer team is riding high into the W.Va. Class AAA state tournament. The Patriots, after losing 12 seniors from last year, are making the trip back to Beckley after falling in the regional final just a season ago.
Wheeling Park will face George Washington in a semifinal matchup at 7 p.m. Friday at Paul Cline Memorial Sports Complex.
"We're very excited. The team has really come together," Wheeling Park coach Carrie Hanna said. "We just have a lot of chemistry and we're peaking at the right time."
There have been a lot of exciting storylines this year for Wheeling Park including being so young, defeating defending state champion Morgantown twice and avenging a loss to Bridgeport in the regional final game, 4-0.
"Somebody had told me that they (Bridgeport) had three goals scored on them during the regular season, and one of them was our's because we lost 2-1," Hanna said. "We opened it wide open with a four-goal performance there."
Two of those goals came from Graceylyn Hanna, who found the back of the net off free kicks. She also had an assist. The senior leads the team with 26 assists and is tied for second with goals (14).
She also had an assist and a goal in a victory against Morgantown during the regular season.
The two teams faced off again in the sectional final game where Loryn Ramsey scored on a free kick in overtime to win 1-0.
"I think we were just ready," Coach Hanna said. "There were some returning players, but there some younger sisters, too. There were younger sisters who were freshmen who would watch these girls the last four year waiting for their turn. I think, going into that game, we lost the regional final last year, they just wanted to avenge the previous year's team. I think for these younger freshmen sisters, who stepped up in a big way, wanted to avenge their big sisters as well."
One of those freshmen is Merritt Delk, who has a has a team-high 27 goals for Park along with nine assists. Audrey Lantz has also saw some significant playing time (six goals, four assists) along with Lily Hanna (three goals, six assists). Kaylee Davis also has seven goals this year.
Delk, had a significant goal against Buckhannon-Upshur during the regular season. Graceylyn Hanna dished off a pass to Delk who found the back of the net at the buzzer to give Park the victory.
"They jumped on us early and I thought, 'Here's a character test. How are we going to respond?'" Coach Hanna said. "We made some adjustments at halftime and we came out and battled. I told them right after the game, scoring in the last second, that I've never witnessed anything like it. I gathered them in and said, 'This is a sign of a championship team right there. Winners find a way.' They found a way to win at the very last second of the game.'"
And a championship team is also a team that can be dangerous no matter who is on the field. The Patriots have that characteristic.
Maya Taggart has supplied 14 goals and 11 assists while Adlie Abraham has eight goals and five assists. Morgan Stauver has turned in seven goals and seven assists this season. Goalkeeper Ryleigh Hicks has allowed 19 goals this season for a 1.36 GAA.
George Washington defeated South Charleston, 9-2 in the sectional final before securing an 8-0 victory over Oak Hill in the regional.
"I don't know a whole lot. Unfortunately, I don't think they got to play a whole lot of games this year due to the COVID county map," Coach Hanna said about George Washington. "We're just really going to focus on us and what we need to do to continue to be successful on both sides of the ball, perfecting our habits and playing our game."