Park scores repeat win over Brooke in OVAC tournament | News, Sports, Jobs

FOLLOWING — Emma Riggs of Brooke and Julia Dunaway of Wheeling Park follow the ball during Tuesday’s OVAC tournament match. – Nick Henthorn

WHEELING — The action was different, but the results were the same Tuesday. The Wheeling Park Patriots hosted the Brooke Bruins at Wheeling Island Stadium in the OVAC girls soccer quarterfinals.

After beating Brooke 7-1 in a regular-season matchup on Aug. 29, the Patriots defeated the Bruins once again on Tuesday with a clean sweep of the Bruins, 8-0, to advance to the OVAC semifinals.

The Patriots’ Julia Dunaway scored five touchdowns, Brenna Tipton scored two and Katelyn Smith also scored one in Tuesday’s win.

“They moved the ball well.” Wheeling Park head coach Tom Smith said the following about his team: “We try to move the ball away from our feet, not touch it too much, put the ball in space and move without the ball, and they did that today.”

Tipton opened the scoring in the seventh minute with a shot from the right wing, the first blow of Wheeling Park’s offensive-minded attack.

The Bruins had possession of the ball in Park’s half for only a few minutes in the first half, getting their first shot in the 19th minute. That small step turned into another score for Park as the Patriots quickly turned the field, culminating in Katelyn Smith making a one-on-one breakaway against Brooke goalkeeper Ivy Myers that Smith converted.

Myers made 10 saves for the Bruins.

Just a minute later, Dunaway scored the first of her five goals with an escape play similar to Smith’s.

Dunaway scored in the 32nd minute with a header from Molly Bradshaw’s corner kick.

Bradshaw threw two touchdown passes.

“We were also able to score goals with our heads from corners. I was very pleased with our finishing ability in corners,” Smith said.

Park went into the locker room with a 4-0 lead. Dunaway scored three more goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

Tipton both started and finished the scoring on Tuesday, scoring in the 61st minute. Myers had blocked a shot, but the deflection ricocheted off Tipton’s waiting foot and he fired a close-range shot on the rebound.

Brooke finished the game by hitting two shots on Wheeling Park’s 18th.

“They are a very good team” “Brooke head coach Jack Minger says: “We came out, tried to load up our defense and slow them down. We had played them in the regular season so we knew what they had. They’re just a very good team, they move the ball, they’re very physical. We just played the best we could, our girls didn’t give up for 80 minutes. They’re just a very good team.”

With the win, Wheeling Park aims to face top seed Morgantown in the semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket, Parkersburg South travels to play Steubenville, coming off a 5-0 win over University.

“There,” When asked if there was a greater urgency surrounding OVAC tournament play, Smith said: “This is the tournament, it’s a higher level game. It’s Morgantown or Steubenville next.”

“For the girls, our seniors want to advance to the OVAC and be able to play in the finals. Of course, you have to win the semifinals first. It’s all about them and being able to see them smile is the best part.”

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