Wheeling Park advances with win over St. Clairsville

WELLSBURG - Wheeling Park may have found its new budding star.

Sophomore Josh Henderson has done his part to make an impact in his second campaign with the Patriots and his remarkable season continued Monday at Brooke High School with three goals in the first half as top-ranked Wheeling Park easily disposed of St. Clairsville 5-0 in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Cup.

''He's young and has a lot of goals,'' Wheeling Park coach Mario Julian said. ''He's only a sophomore and he's starting to score in big games. He's scored against Woodrow Wilson, Parkersburg South, Huntington, and some other real quality teams.

''When playoff time comes around, competition is going to be fierce. You are going to need anybody that can score to score, and he loves scoring.''

Wheeling Park (12-0-3) will face Brooke in the semifinals at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Wheeling Island Stadium.

Henderson didn't take long to put Wheeling Park on the board as he scored in the 4th minute as Chase Winiesdorffer lofted a pass along the goal line that Henderson went up and headed past St. Clairsville goalkeeper Steven Keating.

Twenty minutes later, Henderson stole the ball from a Red Devils defender in the penalty box and found himself 1-on-1 with Keating. Henderson took advantage of the mismatch with his second goal.

He finished the natural hat trick in the 31st minute as teammate Nick Irvin headed a pass to Henderson that he buried over Keating's head as the Patriots took a 3-0 lead into halftime.

''We had a long weekend and we came out a little bit rusty,'' Julian said.

''Teams want to beat Wheeling Park and St. Clairsville came out aggressive and really hard. They made us earn every second to get a victory.

''We had some things going on with trying to get possessions that were breaking down with sloppy passing but it's some things we have time to work on before Saturday for the next game.''

Zach Aderholt scored 14 seconds into the second half and Russell Kosowski knocked in the final goal in the 58th minute before Julian pulled his starters.

''We knew we had a mountain to climb because Park is a very good team,'' St. Clairsville coach Gary Watt said. ''We have a real young team with 13 freshmen, but we gave it our best and we have nothing we can hang our heads about. Park is a good team, they are very solid.

''They have a lot of energy, but not a lot of game experience so you pay the price. Steven Keating is doing a great job for us in goal in his first year. We can learn a lot from this team.

''They came at us with a lot of pressure and we've seen some things in this game that we haven't seen before. It was a good experience for everybody and we are glad we could be a part of (the OVAC Tournament).''

While St. Clairsville was happy to be in the tournament, the Patriots are in it to win it.

Wheeling Park is seeking its first OVAC Cup since 1999 when Dale Beattie was roaming the sideline. Julian has won a state championship, but has not yet captured the OVAC Cup.

''They want to win the whole tournament and a lot of times in the past, the No. 1 seed has done that,'' Julian said. ''We know that everybody wants to beat the No. 1 seed, but that's OK. We come to play and we will be ready for the next challenge.

''We expect (Brooke's) best game. They are going to come out playing their best soccer and we are going to have to raise our level as well. I think if we can do that, we have a chance.''