Gallery by Heather Belcher
Dominating the possessions has not been a problem for the Woodrow Wilson boys soccer team this year. Getting the ball in the back of the net has been the tricky part.
Thursday night the Flying Eagles put it all together.
Scoring two goals in the first eight minutes, Woodrow Wilson was never threatened in a 4-1 win over sectional rival Oak Hill.
“The guys played well tonight,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Steve Laraba said. “They came out really strong and focused. We took our first three chances and scored.”
The Red Devils made their way to Paul Cline Stadium with a little bit of a different look after head coach Lenny Keavney stepped down.
Taking his spot was former Oak Hill standout Blake Wingrove who graduated in 2017.
“At 11:20 a.m. yesterday morning I got called out of class where I teach at Oak Hill High School. They asked me to take the team and I was super excited, but I was also nervous since this is my first time as a high school soccer coach,” Wingrove said. “I had an hour with the boys yesterday and then we are playing Woodrow Wilson today.”
With Oak Hill trying to find its way a bit under the unusual circumstances, Woodrow Wilson struck quick and never looked back.
Jack Grimmett was the catalyst for the first-half scoring barrage for the Flying Eagles when his blast beat the keeper in fifth minute of play. Before the dust could settle, Aiden Bell scored the first of his two goals in the eighth minute for a 2-0 advantage.
For the next 30 minutes the home team never backed off and pressured the Red Devils relentlessly up top.
In the 18th minute, Bell was the recipient of a beautiful assist from Tyler Radford which pushed the lead to three goals. Freshman Coby Dillon made it a 4-0 lead at the break when he knocked in a corner kick in the 35th minute.
Although they struggled mightily in the opening half, Oak Hill refused to roll over and started the second half on fire.
Senior Ty Wilburn erased the shutout with a blast in the 42nd minute, but that was the only goal Woodrow surrendered in the match.
“Even though we didn’t score in the second half, I thought we had the lion’s share of the chances,” Laraba said. “We handled some of the physical play well by not reacting to it. Oak Hill is a dangerous team, a sectional team and a rival. It was a big win.”
Wingrove was pleased with what he saw in the final 40 minutes and definitely witnessed some things his team can build on going forward.
“We got beat 4-0 in the first half and a couple of those goals we can definitely clean up. They deserved two, if not three of those,” Wingrove said. “The second half we came out and beat them 1-0. I am super proud of my boys. (Coach Laraba) should be proud of his boys. Woodrow played a wonderful game and they always do. They are a tough opponent. Hopefully we can bring that competitiveness back to Oak Hill eventually.”
Laraba talked about his team’s play in the second half.
“Am I really happy that we backed off the intensity level in the second half? Not really, but that is going to happen sometimes,” Laraba said. “I still liked our response after giving up the goal. We didn’t panic and we didn’t get frustrated. We just kept playing well and creating lots of chances.”
The win over Oak Hill along with an earlier win against Princeton, should lock up the No. 2 seed for Woodrow Wilson in sectional play.
“It has been a little while since we have had a sectional game at home,” Laraba said. “Where we are at, we should have the No. 2 (seed). Whoever the No. 3 ends up being, hopefully we can play well against them.”
Woodrow Wilson hosts Wheeling Park Saturday at 1 p.m., while Oak Hill hosts Capital at noon Saturday.
