MORGANTOWN — The annual boys’ soccer match between crosstown rivals Morgantown and University High School really hasn’t been that much of a rivalry recently.
In the last 10 contests, the Mohigans boast six wins, two losses and two ties to the Hawks including Thursday night’s lopsided 6-0 victory.
Despite the recent success for MHS, both teams still get up for the contest.
“We are definitely always going to get up for this game,” MHS head coach Sam Snyder said. “I love this game. We go on streaks against each other. There are years where it is just a deadlock match and whenever the schedule comes out, I always circle this one. I woke up this morning excited about this match.”
Apparently junior Anthony Vessechia was also excited as he recorded his first career hattrick in the contest.
“Early on we struggled with our chances on offense,” Vessechia said. “We have kind of been doing that all year. But it was good to get into a groove offensively.”
University’s defense, led by goalkeeper J.R. Abraham, held the Mohigans in check for 16 minutes as the Hawks’ goal was peppered all night with 30 shots. Abraham finished with 15 saves in the contest.
First-year UHS head coach Brian Shannon said he was happy with how his team held up especially early on.
Morgantown was finally able to record its first goal when a misplayed ball by the Hawks just inside the penalty box allowed Sebastian Schneider to tap the ball into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
“We were trying to keep everyone in front of us,” Shannon said. “Trying not to poke or dive for the ball and keep them contained.”
Once the Mohigans (5-2-3) were able to score that first goal, scoring became a little easier as Vessechia scored his first goal with 5:24 left on the first half clock. He collected a pass and then quickly turned and put the ball into the back of the net. Just three minutes later Vessechia struck again, this time off a pass from Schneider with a shot that snuck inside the left goalpost for a 3-0 halftime lead.
“Whenever a team is organized and gets compact on you, it takes quality to score goals,” Snyder said. “We lacked some of that in the first 30 minutes. You can’t score against a compact, good, organized defense unless you’re clean on the ball. We got cleaner as the game went on.”
Morgantown grabbed a 4-0 lead when Rayyan Hanif scored on a cross that cleared all the traffic in front of the goal and ended up on his foot at the back post. Vessechia scored his final goal with 27:46 left in the contest as he used fancy footwork to dribble past the UHS defense. Chuck Schmidt finished the scoring when he found the net off a corner kick opportunity.
The Mohigans are 6-0-2 in their last eight contests against UHS and have allowed just three goals in those matches. William Chang and Guzzeppie Thorn combined for the shutout in goal for MHS in this match.
“We’re a really young team and we returned just two starters from last year,” Shannon said. “I told my guys that we might see them again this year and we need to remember this game.”
UHS (2-8) returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Fairmont Senior for a 4 p.m. match. Morgantown’s next scheduled opponent is September 30 when it hosts John Marshall at 6 p.m.
