photo by: Kim North

Wheeling Central’s Luke Magruder (11) jostles with Wood County Christian’s Holden Misel (14) for possession of the ball early in the first half of the OVAC Class 1A/3A tournament semifinal on the 16th Street Field in East Wheeling. The Maroon Knights outlasted the Wildcats, 1-0, in overtime.

EAST WHEELING – Eighty minutes wasn’t enough to decide Thursday night’s OVAC Class 1A/3A boys’ soccer tournament semifinal between No. 1 Wheeling Central and No. 4 Wood County Christian on the artificial pitch at the 16th Street Field.

The first 5-minute extra session nearly wasn’t enough, either. However, there was enough time on the clock for Matt Criniti’s golden-goal late in the 84th minute that lifted the Maroon Knights (9-2) to a thrill-packed, 1-0, triumph over the Wildcats (9-4).

“I honestly didn’t think it was going to go in at first,” the senior admitted. “It was a long shot. I was probably a good 30 yards out. I’m thankful enough that I placed it just right to get it by the keeper.”

The hard-earned victory earns Wheeling Central a chance at repeating against No. 2 Steubenville Catholic (7-4), which blanked No. 3 Trinity Christian, 2-0, Thursday night in the other semifinal. The Maroon Knights defeated the Crusaders, 2-1, a year ago in penalty kicks for their first-ever championship.

“Saturday is going to be a huge game … a rematch from last year,” Criniti said. “Hopefully, we don’t take it to penalty kicks like we did last year.”

Criniti is no stranger to pressure situations as he is a relief pitcher for the W.Va. Class AA state baseball champions.

“It feels good to have that one moment of glory,” Criniti said of the game-winner. “I’ve been in some big situations before, and that right there was another one of them.”

Wheeling Central dominated possession of the ball all match long, but just couldn’t find its shooting touch due to a tenacious defense from the Wildcats.

“When a team parks the bus, they pretty much have seven defenders in the box. It’s tough to penetrate. It really is,” Wheeling Central head coach Brian Komorowski said. “Our combinations weren’t working and their goalkeeper was phenomenal. He was able to come out and gobble up

Everything.”

Wood County Christian’s Andrew Seigneur was fabulous between the pipes, keeping his team in the match with some highlight reel denials. He finished with 15 saves.

Meanwhile, Wheeling Central’s Tino Sperlazza was only tested a couple of times, but stood tall in the net.

“Tino didn’t have a lot of shots on him tonight, but he played well,” Komorowski added. “The entire team played well. We just couldn’t get into the finishing part of it. It’s that final third where we had a problem tonight. They (Wood County) had a good game plan and executed it.”

The match between the Maroon Knights and Crusaders will wrap things up Saturday at Red Devil Stadium in St. Clairsville at 2 p.m. The Class 4A tilt between No. 1 St. Clairsville and No. 2 Beaver Local begins the day at 10 a.m., with No. 1 Wheeling Park and No. 2 Steubenville battling for the Class 5A crown at noon.

Steubenville Catholic 2, Trinity Christian 0

STEUBENVILLE – The Catholic Central boys’ soccer team won the one that mattered the most.

Trinity Christian shut out Catholic Central in the two team’s first meeting on the pitch, however, Santi Descalzo tallied a goal in each half to lift the No. 3 seed Crusaders to a 2-0 victory against the third-seeded Warriors in an OVAC Class 1A-3A Semifinal Thursday evening on the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.

Descalzo delivered his first goal of the match midway through the first half. The senior standout then collected an insurance goal with about six minutes to give the Blue and Gold some much needed breathing room.

Connor Long and Brendan Kuebler assisted on the goals.

Joe Vranish made eight saves in goal en route to the shutout.

Trinity’s goalie made nine saves, and a defender saved a goal by kicking the ball out from in front of the goal in the second half.

The Warriors defeated the Crusaders, 1-0, Aug. 26 on the road.