Maybe it was the bright sun in their eyes and the hot temperatures last Tuesday night at Warrior Field, but the Lady Warriors Soccer Team had a very slow first 20 minutes of play in their matchup with the visiting Class AA Phillip Barbour Colts.ﾠ Barbour arrived well after the ﾠstarting time of the match and scored first with 26:26 to go in the first half with a shot that skipped over junior PCHS goalie Sarah Jonese.


The second score by the Colts was just as lucky five minutes later when PCHS was called for a hand-ball in the box that resulted in a penalty kick for the 2-0 lead.ﾠ ﾠPCHS won 5-2 at Barbour County last season, so Coach Kathy White knew her girls could do better.

It would take another 10 minutes, but senior all-stater Morgan Williamson got the Warriors on the board with a long, strong kick past the PB goalie to narrow the lead to 2-1.

The momentum quickly switched and with 6:27 to go in the half, PCHS sophomore all-stater Samantha Walton placed a penalty kick over the goalieﾒs head for the 2-2 tie.

The second half scoring was all by Walton with two more goals for her third match with three or more goals.ﾠ Williamson assisted Walton with 35:16 to go, and again kicked the ball over the goalieﾒs head for the first PCHS lead of the game 3-2.ﾠ Waltonﾒs final goal came with 13 minutes to go as she drilled the ball low and across the front of the goal into the far corner for the 4-2 final score.

The Lady Warriors improved to a perfect 4-0 on the season and the Colts dropped to 1-2-2.

By the time the boys game started, the temperature had dropped, but the grass got wet and slippery late in the match.ﾠ The talented and fast Colts wanted to avenge their 6-0 home loss to the Warriors last season, and they scored quickly, only 3:10 into the match, with a fast drive right to the goal for the 1-0 lead.

Another 17 minutes would pass before PCHS senior Alex Rodriguez passed to freshman Garrett McCurdy, who tied the match 1-1 with a shot over the head of the PB goalie to tie the match 1-1.

With just over one minute to go in the half, junior Bill Kelley, with an assist from junior Curtis Pyles, scored to give PCHS itﾒs first lead of the game, 2-1.

The game got rougher in the second half, and the one-short officiating crew did not call many fouls.ﾠ Rodriguez would leave the game when he hit heads with another player, and freshman James Coy had to be taken to the hospital via the Cass Ambulance Squad when he was flattened by a hard hit with no cards handed out.

The Colts got lucky in the second half with 10:23 to go when PCHS goalie, sophomore Frankie Lambert, ﾠcould not keep the soccer ball in his hands on a save, and the ball rolled in for the final 2-2 tie.

The Colts threatened quickly and often in the final moments, but the Warrior defense held with Lambert getting 12 saves on the night.ﾠ The Colts record moved to 1-2-1 and the Warriors to 1-1-2.

The PCHS Boys do not have another game untilﾠ September 16 at a ﾠ7 p.m. home matchup against Petersburg.


Lady Warriors suffer first loss in battle of state undefeated powers

Two undefeated state girls soccer powers in their respective classes met last Thursday for the second straight year at the Beckley State Soccer Complex to cut travel time for both teams.ﾠ The 4-0 Class A Pocahontas County High School Girls Soccer Team ﾠwanted to avenge a 5-0 loss last season ﾠto the ﾠ3-0 Class AA Sissonville Indians.ﾠ ﾠIt took the state champion of the last two seasons, Class A Charleston Catholic, three overtimes last year to knock off Class AA Sissonville by 1 goal in their regional A/AA championship match, and the same thing had occurred ﾠin 2008.

Sissonville traveled to Beckley Thursday, pumped up after a 2-0 defeat of previously undefeated Class AAA Hurricane High of Putnam County, who was ranked #1 all of last season without a loss until University High of Morgantown upset them 1-0 in last seasons Class AAA state championship.ﾠ Senior 6ﾒ1ﾔ Sissonville all-state goalie Jenna Curry turned aside six shots to preserve the shutout of Hurricane this week, and last night she stopped two PCHS shots.

After one half of pretty equal defensive play, the Indians only led the Lady Warriors 1-0 at the half.ﾠ Junior PCHS goalie Sarah Jonese would stop three shots in the match, but Sissonville managed two more goals in the second half for the 3-0 shutout of the now 4-1 Lady Warriors.ﾠ Sissonville improves to 4-0, and both squads should be ranked high when the first 2010 state soccer association polls are released next week.

The PCHS Girls Junior Varsity Squad picked a tough opponent for their first match of the season, and the already tested Sissonville squad took a 7-0 win in the matchup that followed the varsity battle.

The Pocahontas girls schedule does not get any easier as they travel to arch rival Class AAA Greenbrier East on Tuesday, September 14, to face the Lady Spartans at 7:30 p.m.ﾠ East is 2-3-1 with their best effort being a 1-1 tie at Hurricane.ﾠ There will also be a Junior Varsity matchup with the Lady Spartans following the varsity contest.