No one has to inform Steve Laraba about the dangers of the high school soccer postseason.
The veteran Beckley boys coach has been the author of mayhem in Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 play over the last few years.
Now the Flying Eagles are the team at the top of the heap, looking to avoid a stunning upset.
“There has been multiple times that (Greenbrier) East or Princeton had better teams than us,” Laraba said. “We came in with a game-plan and some ideas of what we want to do and we have been successful. There is no reason to believe those teams aren’t going to try and do something to make it hard for us or to beat us.”
Currently ranked No. 3 statewide, the Flying Eagles (13-2-2) have been as high as No. 1 on a couple of occasions, all while playing one of the toughest schedules in the Mountain State.
Beckley’s two losses came to No. 1 Wheeling Park, 2-1 Saturday and a 2-0 loss to No. 2 Hurricane to open the season. Between those setbacks, the Flying Eagles grabbed top-10 wins over Huntington, George Washington, Bridgeport and Greenbrier East. They also recorded ties with No. 5 Morgantown and No. 7 Cabell Midland.
Following a slow start to the season (0-1-2), Beckley ran off 13 straight wins, including victories over all three sectional foes on the road. The Flying Eagles also had triumphs over AA powers Charleston Catholic and Shady Spring along the way.
There is no doubt the resume’ is impressive, but from here forward, it is win or go home in a sectional know for its wacky results.
“It is now tournament time and every (match) could be your last one. We just have to stay mentally focused and understand if we don’t play our best, we can be beat. That happened today,” Laraba said after the Wheeling Park game. “We played well today, but we didn’t play our best. Hopefully we learn a lesson from that and we have a good week next week.”
Success for the Beckley boys has come via impressive play on all three levels of the pitch.
After scoring just two goals across the first three matches, the Flying Eagles exploded for seven goals against longtime rival Oak Hill and have not looked back.
Following a 3-2 win at Bridgeport two days later, Beckley recorded nine clean sheets in the next 10 matches using stellar work on the back line along with stifling ball pressure up top. The Flying Eagles produced 40 goals over that stretch.
Wheeling Park head coach Mario Julian spoke about the Flying Eagles’ defense after the showdown Saturday at Paul Cline Stadium which carried a playoff atmosphere.
“They possess the ball really good. They probably do that better than any team that we have played and they slowed our transition down,” Julian said. “We have scored a lot of goals this year and we only got two today. We average about four or five, so it was tough sledding out there today.”
The scoring for Beckley comes from all angles with Tyler Snyder, Coby Dillon, Ali Farghaly, Hagen Hall, Alex Belcher, A.J. Bishop and Vince Umberger all scoring multiple goals in a contest.
The Flying Eagles have also been extremely efficient on set piece chances.
“The guys are dialed in on it,” Laraba said. “Tyler (Snyder) is making some good decisions on when and where to play the ball. The runs are coming from different people, in different angles and it is hard to defend that. When we are on, we are tough to beat.”
The back line for Beckley has also been just as impressive as the attackers up front. If the Flying Eagles are going to make a deep run in the postseason, defense will be what takes them there.
“Our backs have been playing extremely well. They understand their roles and their positions really well. All four of them, or you can say five with (goalkeeper) Bryson (Doss), are all very good with their feet,” Laraba said. “They have a ton of speed. The best part about them though is they are faster with their minds. They make sure they stop things before they develop. If they do have to use their speed, they have an extra gear that is really impressive.”
The junior trio of Tyler Radford, Jackson Gray and Jackson Schroder are the starting back line with fellow junior Jonathan Scott rotating in as well.
“Vince Umberger is our six, our defensive midfielder. He is a big part of all of that as well,” Laraba said. “They just make sure all of the spaces are covered. They really work so well together as a group. It allows us to be more aggressive going forward to create some overloads in areas teams have to adjust to.”
Like many quarterback and receiver combos, the Flying Eagle defenders have developed an almost telepathic connection over the years.
“They have played together since maybe U6 and they are a fun bunch,” Laraba said. “They figure out where the runs are coming and they know where their teammates will be. Most of the time they don’t have to look. They play the pass and a guy is there. It is really impressive.”
Beckley will host Oak Hill at 7 p.m. Tuesday night in its sectional opener at Paul Cline Stadium. The winner of that contest will meet the winner of Greenbrier East and Princeton for the sectional title Thursday.
