photo by: Nick Henthorn

The Wheeling Park Patriots boys soccer team, pictured with their Class AAAA North Region championship on Thursday after defeating Musselman 3-1 inside Wheeling Island Stadium.

WHEELING — The Wheeling Park Patriots are going back to Beckley after claiming a share of the WVSSAC Class AAAA North Region championship on Thursday, defeating Musselman 3-1 on a rainy evening in Wheeling Island Stadium.

“Proud of my team,” Wheeling Park head coach Mario Julian said after his team raised their championship plaque. “I thought they were outstanding today. We created a lot of chances against an opponent we weren’t familiar with at all, never played them in my 25 seasons. We had to do some scouting and figuring out what to do.

“The kids executed the game plan. I couldn’t believe it, the way we were able to attack the line and get shots off. I was super proud of the group.”

Wheeling Park went to the state tournament last year as well, and fell in the state semifinals to Woodrow Wilson on a double overtime golden goal. For the Park senior class– Cooper Abraham, Anthony Mealy, Ike Aderholt, Cesar Zavala, JT Pockl, Wilson Hanna, Samuel Rockey, and Brian Gonzalez– this will mark the third time the soccer team advances to Beckley in their four years at Park. The Patriots also made it in their freshman year.

“These kids are motivated,” Julian said. “For the seniors, this is their third time in four years going to states, so it’s a lot of fun for them, to have this opportunity again. We fell short last year and the other time, their freshman year. There’s a lot of seniors on this team and I think they have the right attitude, the mentality is really good, and our best players are having a lot of success right now.”

Thursday against the Musselman, it was junior Isaac Welling who broke an early stalemate with a goal in the 10th minute.

In the 19th minute, Musselman’s Brendan Duran equalized with a straight-on, ground-bound shot.

Park retook the lead in the 22nd minute courtesy of an impressive play by Wilson Hanna and Dani Brazal Morcillo.

Hanna was plowing down the field towards the goal, within range of a shot. The senior wound up and faked a shot attempt on two occasions, each time using the fake to work his way past a defender. Nearly on top of the goal, Hanna poked a short cross to Brazal Morcillo who blasted the ball through the goal from short range for a 2-1 lead.

Park clutched onto their one-goal lead throughout the rest of the first half and nearly 20 minutes into the second half before Hanna gave Park a bit of insurance with a goal in the 59th minute.

The two-score lead was a sigh of relief for the Patriots.

“You still don’t relax until the whistle blows to end the game,” Julian said. “I did feel a little uneasy because we’d played so well, and only had the one-goal lead at halftime. It was nice to see how they responded. Once we got the third goal, I thought we took the game over even more and had the ball in their end of the field. It was really good to see how they came together and battled through to the end. They’re determined to compete and that’s what they’re going to do.”

Two teams from the North Region and two from the South Region will advance to the state tournament, and be seeded 1-4. The semifinals will take place Thursday, Nov. 6 and the finals on Saturday, Nov. 8 inside the YMCA Kline Memorial Sports Complex in Beckley.