HS Girls Soccer: Oak Hill strikes early in key regional win over Beckley

Red Devils score twice in the first six minutes and go on to a 3-0 win over the Flying Eagles

Tuesday night at Paul Cline Stadium, the skies were clear, but lightning struck twice early in the match between the Oak Hill and Woodrow Wilson girls.

Two times in the first six minutes the Red Devils found the back of the net for a 2-0 lead which stood the remainder of the contest in a 3-0 win for the visitors from Fayette County.

"They were pretty excited about the game and we came out fast," Oak Hill head coach Gerald Wilburn said. "Then we just kind of settle in and didn't play as forward as I wanted to. I would have liked to have a little more out of it on the scoreboard, but we dominated the game."

Emma Curtis jump-started Oak Hill when she hit a winner from the top of the box not even a minute into the match.

Sophomore striker Bella Holly doubled the advantage in the sixth minute and the Red Devils never looked back.

"They had a couple of long balls and got on us a little bit. We held tight in the back like we have all year and defense was like bend, but don't break. That is the philosophy with Ryleigh (Lucas) and Kearsten (Settle). We put a lot of bodies around them, but we are still finding out what we can about this team. They held on and that is good."

The final goal for Oak Hill came on a corner kick where Holly scored her second goal of the match and 20th of the season.

For the most part, however, following the initial quick strikes, the Flying Eagles held strong over the remainder of the contest.

Minus her starting keeper Tuesday night, Woodrow Wilson head coach Julie Agnor faced a tough decision prior to the match.

"Obviously we had the concussion for our keeper, so we were debating which back-up keeper to play. Pull from the center-back or pull from my utility player," Agnor said. "Pulling from the center-back was probably not the (right) decision. You just don't know, it could have happened either way."

Following the first two goals, moving her center-back out from between the pipes seem to keep the Red Devils at bay.

"The girls played hard and they gave it everything that they had. We kept them from scoring," Agnor said. "These girls are tough and they work hard. Now we know what to expect."

Although he wanted to see more from his team, the bottom line for the night was Oak Hill picked up an important AAAA Region 3 win to stay undefeated at 8-0.

"Getting the win is all that matters and all that is important, whether it's 1-0, or 10-0," Wilburn said. "I am happy with the victory and we look forward to going to (George Washington) on Thursday."

Battling the Patriots (7-2) will be another AAAA Region 3 battle and will carry some heavy postseason implications for seeding purposes.

"It will be a battle when you reload each year like they do. It's hard to compete with them, but we are up to the challenge," Wilburn said. "We will go up there and play as hard as we can. We will see what we have. You never know. Nitro beat them, and I think we are on the same level as them. I think it will be a good game."

Woodrow Wilson (5-2-2) hosts Riverside Thursday.