MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three goals scored in similar fashion during a span of 15 minutes allowed the Morgantown Mohigans to secure a spot in the first-ever Class AAAA state soccer tournament. MHS shutout Hedgesville, 3-0 in the North Region co-final.
Junior Anthony Vessecchia scored three goals, all off rebounds in front of the net in the 11th, 25th and 26th minutes to give the Mohigans all the scoring they would need to collect a regional title.
“We like to say that we are captains of chaos. We know defensively that if we hold our shape and we get the ball up a third, we can always create a bit of chaos and get some variance in front of the goal and hopefully put a few away. That’s kind of what we have been doing,” said Morgantown head coach Sam Snyder.
“They all count the same. We are a gritty team. We’re not underdogs. We’re just dogs. We can go and control our tone and the rest will take care of itself.”
The Mohigans, seeded No. 2 in the North Region, yielded few attacking opportunities to the Eagles (9-6-4) in securing their eighth clean sheet of the season.
“We knew that this team was very good at pressing. The best course of action for us was just to bypass the press long and then win the second ball, which we knew we had a numerical advantage at. That was kind of the game plan and I would say it mostly worked out.”
Morgantown (13-3-4) will join fellow North Region representative Wheeling Park and South Region winners Woodrow Wilson and Hurricane in the Class AAAA state tournament field. Semifinal games will be played at the YMCA Paul Cline Memorial Youth Sports Complex in Beckley on Thursday, November 6. Morgantown is seeking their first state title since 2021.
“I have been a part of a few teams of destiny. This team has one of those feels to them as far as peaking at the right time and playing really clean defense and communicating. We are such a cohesive defensive unit and that goes all the way up to our attack. With that, you almost always give yourself a chance in playoff situations.”