Weir boys fall to Beaver in 4A boys final
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WHEELING -- The Red Riders had to settle for runner-up Saturday, Weir being defeated by the Beaver Local Beavers 8-1 on Wheeling Island Stadium in an OVAC 4A Championship bout.
Weir actually struck first on Saturday, Micah Hvizdack thumping through a close-range blast right before halftime, but the Beavers flipped into high gear in the second half to run away with the conference title.
Beaver Local controlled possession more often than not in the first half as well as their big second half, but the Red Rider backline had more success stymying the Beaver attack in the first half, which led to a scoreless stretch of nearly the entire first 40 minutes.
Weir keeper Ben Howard had six saves in the first half, doing his part in maintaining the 0-0 tie before Hvizdack took an opportunistic strike one minute before hitting the locker rooms.
Coming out of halftime, Beaver Local flipped the switch. Ethan Wood tied the game in the early minutes of the second half, and Kaden Mays scored to take a 2-1 lead in the 51st minute.
Wood scored again on an improvisational play in the 55th minute, Howard defending one shot by charging out of the net and stuffing a shot attempt, but the ball squeezed out and traveled right to the waiting foot of a crashing Wood, who converted an uncontested kick.
Mays sent a short cross to Wood for the hat trick in the 56th minute.
Kaleb Mays scored on a beautiful direct kick centered up with the goal in the 63rd minute, a tally which brought the score to 5-1.
Evan Ours scored two goals while Logan Roberts added one more, all within the final 15 minutes, to seal the conference championship.
"It's a tale of two halves," Weir head coach Adam Welsh said after the game. "I am super proud of our boys. How we played in the first half, we came out and were up 1-0, just playing great. But [Beaver Local] came out in the second half. Give them a lot of credit, congratulations to those guys, they're a great team. They're fun to watch, they play the ball really well, they're a lot of fun to compete against. That's the level of team we want to get to and that's what we'll be shooting for.
"Congratulations to Beaver Local, they did a great job. In the end, really proud of the boys on Weir, they did a great job too."