Wheeling Park sees George Washington tie soccer championship in final seconds; drops final in overtime
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BECKLEY — Two seconds — it doesn't seem like much but it made all the difference on Saturday.
Wheeling Park’s girls soccer team led 1-0 for the majority of the WVSSAC Class AAA State Championship at Paul Cline Stadium in Beckley and was mere seconds away from hoisting the trophy for a second straight year when heartbreak struck.
George Washington's Bella Cinco miraculously scored the game-tying goal with 2 seconds remaining, before eventually hitting the game-winner in overtime, sending No. 1 George Washington to a 2-1 triumph over the defending state champion No. 2 Wheeling Park Patriots.
The two goals allowed in the final minutes of action are the only two goals allowed by Park's defense during the entirety of the postseason.
"All credit to George Washington," Park coach Carrie Hanna said. "They came out and played direct in the second half. We just didn't get in our groove. We didn't settle and we got knocked off our game a little bit."
GW coach Ali Sadeghian summed it up quite simply.
"Never quit. Never quit," he said.
As the 10-second countdown began in regulation, George Washington set up for a corner kick and with a scrum in front of the net, Cinco snuck a shot into the back corner of the goal with only 1.9 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
The Park Patriots didn't hang their heads but the thrilling last-second goal put a charge into GW and Cinco wanted more as the senior midfielder corralled the ball in front of the goal and blasted home the clincher with 1:17 remaining in overtime.
It's George Washington's first state championship for the girls' soccer team in program history, after four runner-up finishes, while the loss ends Park's 15-game winning streak.
"A few decisions there at the end and they don't have that corner kick," Hanna said. "As soon as it hit, I turned around and saw the clock said 1.9 seconds. We still felt confident going into the overtime that we could settle it down but to be ready to celebrate and it goes in the back of the net, then the other team has the momentum. That momentum sure did carry into the first overtime period."
Park took the lead at 32:50 of the first when standout sophomore Merritt Delk stole the ball and dished it over to senior Mia Zecca, who buried it in the right side of the cage for the 1-0 upper hand.
"Mia scored on a beautiful goal," Hanna said. "It was a beautiful passing combination. She just buried it. There was no saving that. She hit side-net and we said how gorgeous it was. She just threaded the needle there. We thought it was going to be enough. We thought she had the game-winner. That was until 1.9 seconds."
Delk, who has been dominant throughout the season and playoffs, was kept scoreless in both the semifinal and championship due to drawing so much focus from opponents.
"We knew who their go-to girls were," Sadeghian said. "(Lily Hanna and Delk) were two players we had planned to mark. We did our best after losing Ava (Trethewey, to an injury). We struggled a little bit with our lineup to make sure we did what we had to do to make sure those two stayed tied and I'm proud of the girls for that."
Coach Hanna humbly gave all credit to Sadeghian and his squad for their defensive efforts.
"George Washington is a very physical team," Coach Hanna said. "Everybody knew Merritt coming into this tournament. I think (Friday) caught them by surprise when she didn't score. Maya (Taggart) had a hat trick but (GW) was beating Maya up pretty good on the wing and they had a lot of people around Merritt, so credit to them to keep some of our producers pretty quiet."
It's easy to harp on what could have been. However, in her post-game talk to her team, Coach Hanna just wanted her team to learn, not only about soccer, but about life.
"I just want them to learn and grow from this," Coach Hanna said. "There was something in that message, too. 'Don't let people affect your decisions.' At the end, our decisions were affected a little bit, which led to giving up the corner kick. There are always life decisions and I'm very thankful those seniors got the opportunity to win the state championship last year and make it all the way back here at the end. This stings to get it taken away at the end but for our younger players, you just want them to learn and grow."