Oak Glen girls control Weir, capture first sectional
NEW MANCHESTER — The Oak Glen girls soccer team controlled possession from start to finish Saturday morning at home to take a convincing win over No. 3 Weir, 3-0, in the Class AA/A Region 1, Section 1 sectional championship match for the No. 1 seed Golden Bears’ first sectional crown in school history.
Oak Glen (15-4-1) did all of the scoring in the opening half and outshot the Red Riders (14-8-1) 33-10, while holding a 17-4 advantage in shots that found the net.
“We knew we wanted to come out strong,” Oak Glen head coach Ryan Wells said. “The possession actually surprised me. I was really proud of our girls with as much as we were able to possess the ball against a great team like Weir High. The first time we played them (a 2-2 tie in the regular season) it was 50-50 and as close as you could get. We’ve grown a lot as a team.
“I think our legs were one of the things that contributed to that. We work hard on conditioning. There’s one day a week we don’t even touch a soccer ball — we just run on the track. When you are in shape, touches on the ball are a lot easier.”
Oak Glen dictated the play right from the start and turned the possession into a goal when Abigail Myers opened the scoring in the 14th minute, finding the ball in a crowd in front after a corner kick and knocking it past Weir goalkeeper Alexis Adams (14 saves) for a 1-0 lead.
Brooklyn Loveland added to the lead in the 29th minute, picking her spot on a penalty kick and hitting the target to make it a 2-0 advantage.
“It feels great,” Loveland said. “We worked really well as a team. I think we should be very proud of us. We have practiced really hard, and I just think the team really pulled together today.”
Reece Enochs capped the scoring in the 33rd minute, scoring from in close to make it a 3-0 lead at the half.
Weir was never able to get much of anything going at any point as Oak Glen goalkeeper Kaylee Travis needed just four saves for the shutout.
“We didn’t play soccer,” Weir coach Jeremy Angelo said. “We just kicked the ball away. We panicked and moved it, and we didn’t do a lot of the simple things right. When you don’t do what you’re taught to do and you don’t possess the ball, it makes life easy for the other side. That’s what happens when you don’t come to play and watch the other team that is younger, more aggressive and eager.”
When Angelo’s team takes the field next season, it will look different as 10 seniors played their final game for the Red Riders on Saturday.
“It’s my first year, so I’ve only had a couple months with them,” Angelo said. “I wish I could have coached them for a couple years. It will be tough. Next year our team won’t look anything like it looks now.”
Oak Glen advances to the regional tournament where it will face Fairmont Senior at 5 p.m. at Weir’s Jimmy Carey Stadium on Thursday.
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