photo by: John McCabe

Wheeling Park High School senior striker Julia Dunaway dribbles the ball through the midfield during the West Virginia State Soccer Championships Class AAAA semifinals Thursday evening in Beckley. Park lost the match in extra time to Oak Hill, 4-3.

BECKLEY, W.Va. — A late second-half surge saw Wheeling Park’s girls’ soccer squad come back from the brink Thursday evening during the West Virginia State Soccer Championships Class AAAA semifinals. However, Oak Hill High School’s Lady Red Devils scored the goal that mattered early in extra time to grab a 4-3 victory and head to Saturday’s Class AAAA girls state championship match against George Washington.

Park, the top-ranked girls team in the state for most of the season, saw itself down 3-1 with 12 minutes remaining and without one of its best defenders in Lakin Chambers, who left earlier in the second half with an injury. Oak Hill had packed its defense in to keep the Lady Patriots away from scoring opportunities.

That’s when Molly Bradshaw stepped up.

The sophomore midfielder dribbled through two defenders and hit an exceptional strike from about 20 yards out that sailed just over the fingertips of Oak Hill’s keeper to make the score 3-2.

Park wasn’t done. Five minutes later, sophomore Brenna Tipton fed a pass to senior striker Julia Dunaway who powered a shot on net that slipped through the keeper’s fingers, knotting the score at 3.

It would stay tied until the end of regulation. In extra time — the first score wins — Oak Hill sophomore Bella Holly went to work. Holly, with 51 goals on the season coming into the game, broke away from two Park defenders off a long pass and found the back of the net to end the contest.

Holly ended the match with a hattrick, scoring once in the first half on a breakaway, once in the second half on a penalty kick and then the winner four minutes into extra time.

Park’s opening goal came from Maggie Miller on a blistering shot from just outside the box that went through Oak Hill’s keeper’s hands.

The match was physical and the crowd — Oak Hill is just 20 minutes from Beckley — was electric. The Wheeling Park boys team stayed following their earlier game, and Wheeling Central’s girls’ team, which plays today for a state title, also attended.

Following the match, Wheeling Park coach Tom Smith had nothing but praise for his team’s performance.

“It was a fantastic semifinal game where either team could have won. I’m very proud of my girls –I can’t say enough about them,” he said. “It was a courageous performance, no doubt, by both teams. These were really tough conditions for all the players with the heavy air, and both teams really put everything they had into the game. Obviously we’re not happy with the outcome, but this is how it played out tonight.

“Our girls have been overachieving all year. We have really high expectations as it is, and for them to get to Beckley and compete at the highest level … I just couldn’t be happier for them.”

The Lady Patriots ended the season 17-3-2.