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JACKSON — For 70 minutes on Saturday, Wheelersburg and Zane Trace had one of the more physical soccer battles in recent memory.
Players were hitting the ground, slide-tackling was the norm, shoulder-checking took place and doing anything to gain a small advantage was being done.
It was everything a district final should be.
However, when it came down to putting the ball into the back of the net, Wheelersburg (19-1) proved why it’s won five straight district championships.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
The Pirates netted two goals in the final 10 minutes of the game, punching their tickets back into the Sweet 16 with a 2-0 victory over Zane Trace.
“Every team wants to be the team to knock off the number one seed, and we knew Zane Trace was going to be ready for the challenge,” Wheelersburg coach Jon Estep said. “It took us some time, but we knew in the second half that if we could apply some pressure, then we could have some opportunities since we have guys who can put the ball in the back of the net.”
‘Burg and Zane Trace met earlier this month and the Pirates walked away with a 5-0 victory. Having said that, the Pioneers (14-6) knew to man-mark Nick Sylvia — who scored all five goals in that first matchup — at all times.
Early on, they indeed limited Sylvia’s chances to score and, on the other hand, had a few chances themselves early to take momentum. On two seperate corner kicks, they came close to finding the back of the net. But Wheelersburg keeper Breyden Byrd managed to make a save on both occasions.
PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s district title win over Zane Trace
Wheelersburg wasn’t getting much by Zane Trace’s defense.
The Pioneers’ back line held firm, and anything that did squeak by was corralled by keeper Judah Hanks, keeping the game scoreless at halftime.
“Zane Trace really did a good job of being the aggressor. We didn’t play a good first half, and they were beating us to a lot of 50-50 balls,” Estep said. “We got lucky they didn’t score on a couple corner kicks they had, but Breyden was right there at the right time. We had to step it up and create more opportunities.”
The action continued and the level of physicality only ramped up with both teams understanding what was up for grabs.
As minutes continued to tick away, the chances were becoming far, few and in between. That is, until Wheelersburg got an opportunity and took advantage of it.
Sylvia received the ball up the right sideline and pushed up a shot that hit the crossbar. After the ricochet, Carter Rawlins was right there to strike and connect with nylon to go ahead 1-0.
“I saw the ball go in the air and I wasn’t expecting it to go off the crossbar,” Rawlins said. “Once I saw that it did, I noticed that their defender was out of place and that was my opportunity, so I crashed it and scored.”
Minutes later, the Pioneers were whistled for a foul and on a free kick, Sylvia sent a laser right past the keeper and into the back of the net to seal the deal and send ‘Burg back to the Sweet 16.
“This senior class is really special. I was really hard on them when they were sophomores, and after that season, I had a sit down with them and I changed my style of coaching to better suit them,” Estep said. “They’ve been led by some great seniors before them who showed how to keep this program successful. Each of these six seniors bring something special to the table and it’s all key to our team’s success. They bought into the way we do things on and off the field, and added their own elements to the mix. It’s not often a class can say they won four district titles, but they can and they’re a special group.”
While Zane Trace’s season ends with a district-runner up finish, Wheelersburg advances to a Division IV regional semifinal at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, coincidentally, at Zane Trace.
There, they’ll meet with Gallia Academy, who defeated Unioto to advance.
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