WELLSBURG – A flurry of offense made the difference.

The Brooke boy’s soccer team controlled the ball for a good bit of the first half, but the Green-and-Gold trailed rival Weir, 2-1, at halftime.

After a halftime talk, the Bruins came out on firing, scoring three goals in a little more seven minutes to rally and take the lead before holding on for a 5-3 victory against the Red Riders Tuesday night on the grass soccer field at Brooke.

“I told the guys there was an angel up above watching the game and she wanted a victory,” Brooke (5-3-1) head coach Joe Pepe said. “They did it for her.

“Whenever Weir and Brooke plays, you can throw out the records. It was a good game. Weir is a good team. They played extremely well. They played a strong game.

“It is unfortunate they had to play back-to-back. We had to do that last week with Wheeling Park and Hedgesville. It was a very good game.”

The hosts outscored the visitors, 4-1, in the second half.

“We did not create enough offense,” first-year Weir (4-2-3) head coach Chris LeFever said. “I expected us to play with more intensity. We played two tough teams the last two days in Big Red and Brooke. Big Red was our first loss.

“Both teams are very good teams. That is why we play them. You are not going to get better if you don’t play good teams.

“Brooke did a nice job in the second half. They had excellent ball movement.”

Ben Ferguson finished wit a hat trick and an assist to lead the way for the boys from Brooke County. Also, Nick Sagan netted a goal and an assist, Jeg Hilt tallied a goal and Dylan Black collected three assists.

Jeremy Gilchrist made six saves in goal for the victors.

“We have worked on some things,” Pepe said. “Coming in, we knew it was going to be a tough game. Last year, we lost to them up at their place. Today, we did what we had to do. Weir is a good team.”

Antonio Pittman tallied a hat trick to lead the way offensively for the boys from Hancock County. Also, Michael Iafrate and Albert Scheibel each tallied an assist. Pittman’s second goal came on a penalty kick.

John Wansack stopped 12 shots in goal for the Red-and-Black.

“Wan made some big saves,” LeFever said. “He is a senior. He’s one of our captains. He is very solid back there.”

The boys in green finished the first half with only one goal, but they would have had more if not for Wansack’s heroics.

The Red Riders struck first when Pittman found the back of the net for the first time giving the boys in the white jerseys a 1-0 lead with 27:30 remaining to be played in the first half.

The lead did not last long.

Brooke answered when Ferguson netted his first goal tying the score at 1-all 51 seconds later.

A foul in the box resulted in Weir receiving a penalty kick, and Pittman buried the shot into the back of the net to give the Red Riders the lead back at 2-1.

“We knew they were going to move Antonio around to different places on the field,” Pepe said.

The Bruins had chances to tie the score, but they were unable to get another shot past Wansack before the first half ended.

“Their goalie made some good saves,” Pepe said. “We are going to work on some things tomorrow at practice. We are going to work on our finishing.”

The match changed within the first eight minutes of the second half.

First, Sagan scored to knot the score at 2 with 2:04 gone in the half. Next, Ferguson found the back of the net for the second time to give Brooke its first lead of the game at 3-2 with 33:52 left to play. Finally, Hilt headed the ball into the net off a free kick giving the victors a 4-2 advantage 59 seconds later.

“I think we got comfortable,” LeFever said. “We were up 2-1 at halftime. You have to be intense. You have to be ready all the time. They had good ball movement.

“We played on this big field. It was great to be able to play on this big field. I think this is the biggest field in the Tri-State area. We are used to playing on small fields. We played on a big field today.

“There was a lot of open space. Unfortunately, we didn’t use it, and they did.”

Trailing by two goals, the Red Riders closed the gap down to one when Pittman completed his hat trick with his third goal to make the score 4-3 with 28:48 remaining in the match.

“We scored goals, but we need to link up,”LeFever said. “We did not communicate well enough. We did not communicate at all yesterday.

“This is our third game in a row since Friday. Thankfully, I will be able to hold a practice tomorrow.”

Ferguson finished off his hat trick and regained a two-goal advantage for the hosts when he scored on a header off another free kick with 5:22 still showing on the scoreboard clock.

“I’m very proud of these guys,” Pepe said. “They stepped up. Everyone played extremely well. The defense stepped up. The offense stepped up.”

“We controlled the ball for most of the first half, but we could not get the ball into the net.

“Take nothing away from Weir. They are a good team. It was a very competitive game.

“I was worried. Weir is No. 1 in the OVAC in their division. We will take everything we can get right now. One of our goals is to get into the OVACs.

“I am very proud of the kids. They stepped up. We had good senior leadership. The juniors played extremely well. The sophomores played extremely well. I just cannot say enough about these kids. The bench support was fantastic.”

The Red Riders are scheduled to play another tough game when Weir plays Linsly at 5 p.m. Thursday down at the Highlands Sports Complex.

“I told the boys we will stop at Chipotle if we win,” LeFever said.

Weir will finish out the week by playing Indian Creek at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road at Kettlewell Stadium.

Brooke is scheduled to return to action at 7:30 p.m. Thursday down at Wheeling Central.

“We have lost some good games,” Pepe said. “Other than the Linsly game, we have lost some good games. We lost 2-0 to Woodrow Wilson in the final 10 minutes. The last I looked they are still undefeated. We lost 3-0 to Wheeling Park. We made some mistakes in that game, but mistakes are going to happen when you play against good teams.”

Brooke is slated to play Buckhannon-Upshur at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the road to close out the week.