WVU Parkersburg Scores on Two Direct Kicks in Loss to WVWC

by Abbie Sweeney

Finishing strong. The Riverhawks soccer team played against West Virginia Wesleyan on Oct. 17th. If the Oct. 17th game turns out to be the last home game, then the team ended well - even though the final score of the match was 7-2 Wesleyan. The two points scored by captain Matt Smith were an addition to the two points scored out of the whole season so far. “I felt splendid and spectacular,” said Smith.

The goals were made on a direct kick because of a fouls made on Josh Arnold who is also a captain on the team. “Matt had a beautiful kick,” said coach Abigail Bowers.

Smith also made one more goal at another game out of the four total points so far. Number 14, Tim Fritto, scored the fourth point at the Wheeling Jesuit game.

Also making himself stand out was goalie Kodi Sells, with a total of 30 goalie saves. “I didn’t do enough,” said Sells because of the points scored on him. However, most of the game was played on the Riverhawks side of the field.

Even though the Riverhawks lost the game, their sportsmanship seemed to be better since #15 from Wesleyan was yellow carded in the second half. The Riverhawks also had an advantage in the field because the field at WVU Parkersburg is smaller than what the Wesleyan players were used to. As a result, every corner kick made by them was kicked too far.

Being off sides was also an issue for Wesleyan. They were off sides seven times during the game, while the Riverhawks were never penalized for being off sides the entire game.

During the first half of the game, a slight accident happened when #18, Andrew Harpold, took a soccer ball to the throat by his team player #11, Korie Morgan. “I couldn’t breath,” said Harpold. The boys joked about the incident after the game with Morgan saying Harpold wouldn’t have been kicked if he weren’t in his way.

The Wesleyan game was their second and last home game of the season. More home games were planned, but they were canceled by the other teams. However, the last game that will be on Oct. 23rd, at 1 p.m., might be moved to a home game instead of the current schedule which has the Riverhawks traveling to Ashland.