Wheeling, W. Va- It was a soggy, overcast day at Bishop Schmitt Field. The Wheeling Cardinals (2-5), (2-2) hosted a well-known foe located just 20 minutes north of them. They call themselves the Hilltoppers of West Liberty. The rivals played each other intensely all match long, but the defense was the game's true star. In the end, the difference was the Toppers being just a few steps ahead of the Cardinals. For that reason, West Liberty held on to secure a 2-1 victory away from home.
The Cardinals were determined to enforce their style of play from the opening kickoff, and they did. Hilltopper's goalkeeper, Cianna Butera, was put to work early by Talynn DeBartolo once and Lily Hanna twice. Despite the early attack, Mia Zecca took a corner kick for West Liberty and broke the scoreless seal only eight minutes into the game. The early goal ignited the offense for the visitors, taking two shots immediately after. However, Olivia Kqira denied both of them.
Wheeling returned to their aggressive ways, recording three shots in five minutes of play. They kept the ball in the offensive zone, allowing their defenders to play at midfield. The Hilltoppers gained possession of the ball and sent it past the Cardinal defenders. It became a tight race to the ball, but the Hilltopper attacker was on a breakaway in the box. Krystal Elie intervened to stop her, but she brought the attacker down, resulting in a West Liberty penalty kick and a yellow card for the Toronto native. Morgan Kost promptly took advantage of the opportunity, rocketing a shot past Kqira to increase their lead to two. The Cardinals did not allow this to get in their head. Six minutes later, Graceylyn Hanna crossed the ball into the box, Butera misplayed the ball, and Debartolo's foot got a piece of it as it rolled across the goal line, cutting the lead to only one. Both sides had a few more scoring chances before the half ended.
The teams lined back up in their formations to kick off the second half. The Cardinals started with possession, but the Hilltoppers chose to be even more aggressive than they had been in the previous half. They pressured the defense, forcing turnovers, and gaining more chances to stretch their lead. In the opening five minutes, West Liberty posted six shots and Kqira was needed to stop three of them in a theatric manner. Her teammates recognized her effort and began attacking the Toppers hard. Three of the next four shots aimed directly at Butera.
As the time slowly ticked away, the Cardinals were pushing for more and more offense. Graceylyn Hanna got loose in space a few times in the attacking zone. She crossed the ball over into the box, but there was not a Wheeling player near to pick up the rebound. The Cardinals continued to drive down the field, but the Hilltopper defenders stepped up at the right time to get in the way of the passing lanes to boot the ball back down field. After another brillant save by Kqira with two and half minutes to go, Wheeling tried to put together one final rush, but the Topper defense stood strong. As the clock hit zero, West Liberty held on until the very end and won 2-1.
Despite the loss, the team performed exceptionally well. Olivia Kqira stopped nine out of the 11 shots she faced. Each stop was more impressive than the last. Lily Hanna led the team with four shots on goal and eight total shots. The lone goal scorer, DeBartolo, finished with a marker and four shots. Graceylyn Hanna recorded one shot, but also was credited with the assist on the goal. Mary DiFonzo recorded a shot on goal off four shots all together. Olivia Hoban took two shots and one of those tested the keeper. Even though Theresa Markwei's only statistical contribution was playing a full 90 minute game, it's worth mentioning her outstanding defensive play in the midfield. Her style of play proves that statistics are nice, but they are not everything. At the end of the day, it comes down to execution.
The West Virginia State Yellow Jackets will feature as the next opponent for the Wheeling Women's Soccer team on Wednesday, October 2nd.
