“We’ve been looking forward to an opportunity,” Wheeling Park head coach Mario Julian said. “Woodrow ended our season last year and, you know, it was a tough pill to swallow and we knew how good they were. The boys prepared to win this game if they executed the game plan. We had a plan and they executed it.”

Wheeling Park (16-3) received the game’s lone goal from senior Wison Hanna in the late stages of Saturday’s contest, in the 69th minute. Hanna delivered for his team with an impressive shot after handling a pass from Ike Aderholt, who lofted a ball from midfield deep into Eagles territory. There were two defenders in Hanna’s midst, the only two between him and the goal, and the Patriots’ all-stater exploded out from between them and lofted a shot just out of the keepers’ reach for what would be the game’s only score.

“It was a great pass, and Wilson won a 50-50 ball with one of their defenders and then finished it off,” Julian said.

It had been a game of near-misses and hand-wringing until that point. Park thought Hanna had given them a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute with a breakaway goal, but an offsides call nullified the play. The senior missed just barely wide of the posts in the 45th minute, and Woodrow Wilson’s Alex Belcher let loose a shot in the 57th minute which was just a bit too high, plunking off the bottom of the football field goal posts and resting on top of Park’s netting. The Patriots’ Samuel Rockey had a near-miss of his own, ripping a shot just barely outside of the far goal post in the 64th minute.

After Wilson’s goal, Woodrow Wilson played with desperation, and had a couple good looks at the goal– both thwarted by Park keeper Jacob Robinson, who came up with two clutch saves in the game’s final two minutes.

The first came in the 79th minute, after Park was called for a penalty in the goalie box, and Woodrow Wilson had a free kick from in-close- but Robinson rose up through a crowd to snag the shot.

Then, with 30 seconds left in the game, the Flying Ealges were awarded another free kick, this one from some 30 yards out from the goal. The kick was well on-line though, and it took a leaping grab from Robinson to stymie a shot that looked bound for the back of the net.

“Couple big saves there from him,” Julian said of his keeper. “I mean, he’s coming in and just learning on the job. He wasn’t a goalie coming into the season, and he works really hard at what he’s trying to do. And he takes pride in being a good teammate and doesn’t want to let anybody down. He works extremely hard. Really proud of that boy.”

Handing Woodrow Wilson their first loss of the season is bound to be a confidence-booster for the Patriots, who are seeded atop Class AAAA’s North Region in the first year of a new two-region system for WVSSAC soccer.

However, Julian knows that, as soon as the final buzzer sounded, his Patriots had to keep looking ahead.

“It’s a regular season game, I’m not going to lose sight of that,” Julian said. “I mean, the playoffs are a whole different thing. I’m very excited to win the game, knowing that they were undefeated. I’ve had a couple undefeated seasons, it’s really hard to do. We can be sure that [Woodrow Wilson’s] going to be ready for the playoffs. I mean, Woodrow, they’re good. They don’t have a weakness out there. And, we had to come structured today with a plan. We pressured and we worked hard. The execution was flawless for us.”

Saturday wrapped up the regular season for Wheeling Park. Their next match will take place in the North Regional Tournament, where they will have a first-round bye and on Oct. 25 they will play the winner of No. 8 Jefferson vs. No. 9 University.