PCHS soccer teams fall in regional championships

Summersville, W.Va. – I got home after 1 AM, after a marathon boys regional championship game that went four overtimes and lasted almost three hours. There were two ten minutes normal overtime periods, and then two sudden death five minutes overtime periods. Regulation ended 2-2 for the boys, and then with 2:36 to go in the fourth overtime, Bluefield got a shot in a crowd and won 3-2. The PCHS boys crumbled to the ground in disbelief as the match ended.

Bluefield arrived with three bus loads of students and players, so the audience was the biggest of the season for PCHS, who also had a big following of fans travel to Summersville.

Bluefield scored early in the boys region 3 championship match at the 37:07 mark to make it 1-0.

PCHS then scored with 11:26 to go in the first half when Phillip Green passed to Tyler Davis, and Davis headed it directly into the goal for the 1-1 tie that held to half-time. That play had to be the most beautiful play of the evening.

Bluefield again scored early in the second half when PCHS goalie Alex Kennison had a shot bounce off his hands, and Bluefield got a foot on it for the go-ahead goal 2-1.

Five minutes later Tyler Davis dribbled and on a rebound scored again for the 2-2 tie. That tie held for over 32 minutes, about half-way into the fourth five-minute sudden death overtime period.

Bluefield improves to 15-5-2 and PCHS drops to 11-6-2, and Bluefield advances to next week’s state final four in Beckley.

Both matches were rough, and the PCHS fans felt there should have been yellow cards handled out in both matches to a few opposing players. I felt the first match was controlled more than the girls match. The three referees were from southern WV.

——————————-

The Pikeview girls also scored early in the much-delayed girls regional championship that did not start until three hours after the boys marathon began at 5:30. With 35:40 to go in the first half, a Pikeview player dribbled and shot to the left of goalie Lorena Rose for the 1-0 lead.

At the 16:22 mark, Pikeview scored again on a pass play for the 2-0 lead that held until Sam Walton, on a pass from Clair Mosesso, with only 1:39 to go in the first half, kicked the ball to the left of the Pikeview goalie to cut the lead to 1-2.

Sam Walton would score again early in the second half at 34:41, driving into the goal, for the 2-2 tie.

Pikeview’s top scorer, Laura Hill, would score her second goal with 20:34 to go in the match from 15 yards out and to the left of the goalie.

The rest of the match was a defensive struggle, and Pikeview managed to swarm Walton every time she got near the ball, and they also delayed the game at times resulting in one delay of game call.

Pikeview improves to 16-4-2, and PCHS drops to 11-6-1. Pikeview also advances to next week’s final four state tournament in Beckley.

We all never gave up until the final sudden death score in the boys match and only after the last second ticked off the clock in the girls match. PCHS proved that could play with the best Class AA schools in our region, and with only one other Class A public school making it to regionals this year, PCHS can hold it’s head high.

Congratulations to all the players and to Coaches Steve White, Kathy White and Cully McCurdy for getting these student athletes to regionals and matching the second highest finish in PCHS school history. Only the 2008 teams got further when both teams made it to the Final Four in Beckley.