Lady Riders shut out in state final

BECKLEY - You just can not spend that much time playing defense without something bad happening.

Such was the case for the Weir High girls soccer team Saturday against Charleston Catholic on Carter Field in the West Virginia Class AA-A state championship final at the YMCA Youth Sports Complex.

The Irish just about lived in the Red Riders' half during the first half, but coach Chris LeFever's squad went to intermission 0-0.

"We had a good talk at halftime," said LeFever.

"It was a very tough, physical game," said Red Riders senior Megan Duke. "You really didn't have a lot of time. Every time you got the ball there was one or two girls pressuring you."

"Our defense held strong," said sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Gianangeli. "If your offense is having a hard time, you have to rely on your defense."

The Red Riders missed a golden opportunity 30 seconds into the second half when a ball was misplayed by a Charleston Catholic defender - its goalie left the goal wide open - but the point-blank shot was missed wide.

"We knew that when our opportunities came today we had to capitalize on them," said LeFever.

"That would have lifted us up and I think it would have brought them down a little bit," said Weir senior Kassi Robinson.

Less than four minutes after the Red Riders failed to score, the Irish did the opposite.

It stayed 1-0 until Charleston Catholic's Donovan Reed headed in a corner kick midway through the second half.

"This counts a lot more than a regular season game," said Robinson. "They played very tough and physical. They played as a team. They finished and we couldn't finish ours when we had chances at goals."

The teams played to a 1-1 tie on Aug. 29.

"In the regular season we scored on them first," said LeFever. "We dominated for a while and had quite a few opportunities in our first game.

"Today offensively we had to have seven players push up and three holding back because they only post up two forwards and then they come with numbers in the midfield, transitioning and overlapping runners. They take it outside wide and cross it in.

"They did a good job today. Unfortunately we were back on our heels, which led us to also keep coming back and playing defense."

The Red Riders lose five seniors - Robinson, Duke, Jessica Collins, Emily Lescallette and Desi Frohnapfel.

"We're young," said LeFever. "I don't expect perfection. They're not going to be perfect. The important thing we said all season was that everybody will make mistakes, bu tif you continue to work hard, you make up for those mistakes. And, don't let it happen twice."

The Red Riders and Irish have been the only Class AA-A state finalists since the state split the competition into two classifications.

"Hopefully, the younger girls want to be back here next year," said Robinson. "I know we wanted it this year just from last year."

"We have a great bunch of girls," said LeFever. "They worked very hard all season.

"They still gave it their all. I can't ask for any more than that. I'm very proud of them."

(Mathison can be contacted at mmathison@heraldstaronline.com)