Oak Hill head girls soccer coach Gerald Wilburn knew there would be an adjustment period during his first year on the sideline at the high school level.
What Wilburn could not count on was the rash of injuries his team would sustain throughout the season.
However, even with the depleted numbers, the Red Devils were one half away from winning their fifth straight regional title.
“The first year was a good experience. It took a little getting used to, but we had a good team with a really good group of girls,” Wilburn said.
Oak Hill defeated Greenbrier East in the sectional opener in a nail-biter that was eventually decided by penalty kicks.
While they were ecstatic with the outcome, the game took a physical toll on the Red Devils who squared off two days later against Woodrow Wilson for the sectional championship.
“My emotions are up there. This is a big win for the girls, and I am proud of them,” Wilburn said after the emotional victory. “We struggled a little bit all year with injuries especially. Tonight, we struggled with cramping. I was down three kids all night long. One with an ankle, two with bad cramps, but we pulled it off.”
Two nights later Oak Hill took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but could not hold off Woodrow Wilson. Three second half goals sent the Flying Eagles on to the regional round as sectional champions.
“We had a solid season, but we really felt like we had the team that could beat Woodrow,” Wilburn said. “We had the long game against Greenbrier East and then we had two girls out. We were just tired going in and we ran out of depth.”
This season the Red Devils have some key holes to fill, but Wilburn is confident with the group that will take the field this year.
The biggest holes left by graduation were prolific scorer, Samiah Lynch and goalkeeper Eden Gilkey who shined in the sectional win over the Spartans.
“The section is going to be tough, but I really think overall as a team, we might be a little better than last year,” Wilburn said. “You can never replace Samiah. She was big on the field, but as a team, everybody would rely on her. Now they are going to have to spread out and work together as a unit.”
One huge bright spot for Oak Hill will be the return of senior Kadence Lucas who missed all of of her junior season with a knee injury.
“She was a big part of this team before I got here and she is leading the charge this year,” Wilburn said.
Joining Lucas will be senior all-state midfielder Hannah White and junior Samantha Dean.
“I think Sam is one of the best defenders in the state. She had a knee injury, but she is back 100 percent healthy this year,” Wilburn said.
Add in Jada Babkirk, Maddy Friebell, who also battled injury last year, Bethany Rosiek, Emmy Harlan, Kerrisyn Feazell and the Red Devils have a strong nucleus to go with a solid group of income freshmen.
The one area of concern will be finding a keeper to replace Gilkey, without being forced to move a defender off the field to cover the net.
“I have a couple of girls that we have been working with, but we are not sure who will be there. They are still competing for the (keeper) position,” Wilburn said.
The second year head coach has also been impressed by his team’s efforts during the off-season which is already paying early dividends.
“We had a good workout program over the summer. I have had 16 or 17 girls there all year. Just the whole team chemistry has been good,” Wilburn said. “We seem to be moving the ball well. I really like the effort and we have been in good shape early. We have had more time to play on the field and we haven’t had to do as much conditioning. I feel like we are going to surprise a lot of people this year.”
Oak Hill opens the season Aug. 19 when it hosts Point Pleasant.
