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Photo of Cody Nespor Tresz McLeod of Wheeling Park controls the ball in enemy territory Tuesday against Parkersburg South. McLeod scored his third goal of the season against the Patriots.
WHEELING – There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the thermometer was pushing 90 degrees when the Wheeling Park boys’ soccer team kicked off against Parkersburg South at Wheeling Island Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. In the battle between the teams known as the Patriots, Park emerged victorious with a convincing 7-0 victory.
After squealing against rival Hurricane 2-1 on Saturday, Park coach Mario Julian was pleased with his team’s performance on Tuesday.
“It feels good,” Julian said. “We had a tough game on Saturday and you know the next one is always tough. We only had a few days of training and we focused very hard on our defensive form.
Park controlled much of the action throughout the game, consistently keeping the ball on the south side of the pitch.
“We have a strong midfielder and we love to pass the ball,” said Julian. “When we lose it, we like to play hard in defense and win it back straight away. I think we were able to defend so well that we were able to regain the ground and start the attack again. I know we made them work pretty hard.
At the start of the game, South handled the pressure well, but they couldn’t hold back the tide indefinitely.
At 3:10 p.m., Park’s head captain Alex Canestraro broke the seal with the game’s opening goal and from there Park was gone.
Two minutes later, rookie Tresz McLeod scored his third goal of the season to make it 2-0. Park scored a third goal before halftime on a long second-year Manuel Juanez kick at 36:04.
The story of the second half was similar to the first, with South struggling to own the ball for a while.
“Our midfielder was struggling and they have a very strong midfielder so we are struggling to own and get the ball back on our feet,” South coach Jamie Whitlatch said. “” Our midfield has never been our strength. (Julian) knows, he’s a smart trainer. I knew they were going to play the ball wide, but we couldn’t stop it.
Junior Brody Wall scored from a penalty at 5:46 pm in the second half before Canestraro added his second goal of the game at 8:21 pm.
“Alex entered his first year last year starting as a junior and was part of the State First Team,” said Julian. “He’s a very good soccer player, he has a lot of speed and he’s a team player. He’s not quite as vocal, but he sets an example with how hard he works.
Matteo Gattesco and Rynder McLeod scored late to give Park a 7-0 victory.
“I knew Wheeling Park was a good team and it’s still a strong team,” said Whitlatch. “I didn’t expect us to lose like this because I thought we were better than that. Today just wasn’t the day.
“We’re building defense on the attackers and I think that showed up tonight,” Julian said. “Our pass was good and a lot of guys got involved. “
In addition to goals, Wall, Gattesco, Juanez, Lorenzo Donzella and Taylor McFarland all had assists.
Park (2-0) will play Buckhannon-Upshur on Thursday while South (1-1) travel to Morgantown and face the University.
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