Knight’s hat trick lifts Trinity Christian soccer to 4-1 win over Petersburg in opening round of Region II playoffs
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MORGANTOWN – The Trinity Christian High School soccer team began postseason play with a convincing 4-1 victory over visiting Petersburg in Sabraton on Monday night.
TCS senior striker Evan Knight completed a hat trick to lead the 7-seed Warriors (6-10-1) to an opening-round victory in the Class AA/A Region II playoffs against the visiting Vikings (0-16).
With the victory, Trinity Christian advances to the second round of the bracket to battle No. 2 Pocahontas County on Wednesday evening.
"I thought we were honestly a little lethargic in the first half and had to break out of our funk," TCS head coach Dan Lohmann said. "We have a lot of inexperience, so these playoff moments are massive for us. It doesn't matter how it comes. We did well to string together some things in the second half and finish strong."
After an opening 20 minutes that saw possession traded between the sides, Trinity Christian broke the ice when sophomore Ben Hancox crashed the net and buried a rebound to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Another ten minutes ticked off the clock before the hosts added their second goal, this time through Knight, who picked out the top corner with a solid strike from the edge of the 18-yard box, giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead at the break.
Petersburg generated some threat throughout the first half and nearly cut the lead in half to begin the second 40 with a close-range effort that sailed over the crossbar.
The Warriors made their opponents pay for the mistake not long after, when Knight added his second goal with a calm finish after finding himself with no one but the keeper to beat.
Knight completed his hat trick with just under nine minutes remaining to extend the lead to 4-0, but the Vikings slammed the door on the Warriors’ clean sheet with a goal of their own 90 seconds left to play.
Ultimately, Trinity Christian emerged victorious and will live to fight Wednesday against Pocahontas County.
"We started gaining some confidence in ourselves midseason, and it shows," Lohmann said. "It's been all about application because of our inexperience, and it takes some time when the ceiling is so high. But this group has come together and played well down the stretch."