Gavin Forgét
The boys get fired up for the game. Photo courtesy of Jen Forgét
Following a season where they fell just short in the State championship semi-finals, the Wheeling Park boys soccer team looks to complete the job this year. It will be an uphill battle for the team, as they lost six starters due to graduation last year, including Wheeling Park’s record goal scorer, Trezs McLeod.
“We will miss them a lot, and we had some of our best players last year that were seniors, so it’s kind of hard to adjust to that kind of thing. You have to change your whole formation and line up, and the team chemistry is very different, but I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily bringing our team down. We miss them in a healthy way, and they were really good, but I don’t think it’s bringing us down. We just have to adjust and adapt to our new style of play,” said senior Ike Aderholt.
They started the season dropping two matches to teams from Pennsylvania: Central Catholic (Pittsburgh) and Harbor Creek. After those two losses, the boys rattled off four straight, beating Buckhannon-Upshur 4-1, Washington 2-0, Morgantown 2-1, and Brooke 10-0.
“I’d say Morgantown was one of our most important wins due to the fact that they are our biggest rivals and are always one of the top teams to face,” said junior Tristin Gonzalez.
Their first home match of the season took place on September 6th, their seventh match of the season. Even though they came up short against Hurricane, the team still doesn’t miss the feeling of home.
“Obviously, our first six matches were away, so it’s really nice to play at home and have that environment with all the fans around,” said senior Wilson Hanna.
The Patriots bounced back, dominating University 7-1 in a must-win match. Following this, the team went down to Charleston to play George Washington. They came out with an all-important 3-0 win. Then, as of 9/16, they beat Steubenville 5-0 to end up with seven wins and three losses in the season thus far. With two of those losses coming from teams from Pennsylvania, the Wheeling Park boys soccer team has seven wins and one loss against West Virginia competition, heading into some tough competition for the next few games.
Next 4 Matches:
9/18 John Marshall (H)
10/2 Linsly (H)
10/4 Cabell Midland (A)
10/7 Marietta (A)