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Golden Bears break through Madonna’s defense to advance

BATTLE — Oak Glen’ Brooklyn Watts and Madonna’s Lonni Riggs battle for the ball during Wednesday’s Class AA/A sectional match. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

NEW MANCHESTER — Oak Glen girls soccer coach Ryan Wells knew Madonna was going to try to defend the high-powered Golden Bears attack, and the Blue Dons did for most of the first half during Wednesday’s West Virginia Class AA/A sectional contest.

A late goal in the opening half gave Oak Glen the momentum, and the Golden Bears broke through in the second half to take a 6-0 win and advance.

“They did a tremendous job,” Wells said of Madonna’s defense. “We knew coming in they were going to come in here and play defensive heavy, and that was one of the best defensive formations and tactics that we have seen all year. The girls really adjusted well at halftime.”

Top-seeded Oak Glen (16-1) will face Weir High at 11 a.m. Saturday in the sectional championship. The Red Riders also won 6-0 on Wednesday at Wheeling Central.

The Golden Bears set a school record for wins in a girls soccer season.

Madonna (6-14) coach Bob Kalanko was happy with how his team defended until the late first half goal by Oak Glen’s Maggie Kovalcik made it 2-0.

“In the first half we had something planned and, quite frankly, it worked very well,” he said. “We made two mental lapses that allowed them to score those two goals. Once they scored two goals, we could no longer do the things in the second half that we wanted to do. We wanted to hold them in the first half and come out in the second half in more of an attacking mode. Once they got up 2-0, we kind of had to try and hold them at 2-0 as long as we could.

“I think the girls played very, very well for 38 and a half minutes in the first half. I think we frustrated them and made them take a lot of rushed shots. Being at 1-0 at halftime would have been very nice. When (the second goal) occurred really changed our mindset in the second half.”

It took just more than 18 minutes for Oak Glen to open the scoring, when Brooklyn Watts snuck the ball past diving Madonna goalkeeper Abby Macek for a 1-0 lead. That remained the score, despite a large advantage in shots for the Golden Bears, until Kovalcik connected with 2:55 to play before the break.

“The girls knew it was going to be a battle and had to stay patient,” Wells said. “We did a good job of playing possession soccer, and our defense did a good job of not allowing counters.”

Once the second half began, Oak Glen continued to control possession and added to the lead 13:23 in. Brooklyn Loveland lifted a shot up and over Macek to make it 3-0. About five minutes later, Kovalcik scored her second in similar fashion to make it 4-0.

Less than three minutes later, Loveland floated her second up and in behind Macek to make it 5-0. Then, once again about three minutes later, Watts capped the scoring with her second from another tough angle.

Macek finished with 21 saves for Madonna, while Oak Glen’s Kaylee Travis made two for the shutout.

“Their keeper is really good,” Wells said of Macek. “She is always in the right spot.”

With the end of the Blue Dons’ season, the high school careers of seniors MaKayla Virden and Lonni Riggs also close.

“She has meant so much to this program over the last four years,” Kolanko said of Virden. “Around 80 percent of our goals scored this year were either by her or assisted by her. I couldn’t ask for anything more from her than what she gave us the last four years.

“Lonni lives and breaths soccer. She battled an injury more than she would have wanted this year, but she never quit, never came off and never complained. We are going to miss them.”

Kolanko likes the future for his team, though.

“We are probably the youngest team that I’ve seen or we’ve gone up against this year,” he said. “I love the group that we have coming back.”

(Grimm can be reached at agrimm@heraldstaronline.com. For local sports updates, follow us on Twitter @HSDTsports.)

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