MORGANTOWN, W.Va – Now, the Warriors will have a chance to defend that title.
The OVAC Class 1A/3A tournament got underway Thursday night with second-seeded Trinity hosting Wood County Christian in Morgantown.
An early chance for the Warriors set the tone with Brock Shuba capitalizing on an angle on goal from near the top of the box to take a 1-0.
The Wildcats managed to answer near the midpoint of the first half as Sam Chichester had his shot blocked by Trinity’s Carter Hartsock but the bounce put the ball right back at his feet and he drilled it into the bottom right corner to knot the score.
Both teams settled in to playing the possession game until the final moments of the first half when Kyle Knight picked up the ball near midfield and knifed his way through the Wildcat backline, slotting the ball into the bottom left to retake the lead.
With a one-goal lead at the half, the Warriors took all of the momentum into the break and came out firing in the second.
It started with a set piece opportunity with Shuba delivering a picture-perfect corner kick to Hartsock who headed it home for the two-goal advantage.
A few minutes later, a bouncing ball near the top of the box landed at the feet of Charles Steptoe who hammered a shot into the back of the net to make it 4-1.
Steptoe made it a brace and a four-goal victory for the Warriors by cleaning up a Knight shot that ricocheted off the post to take a 5-1 lead.
Trinity advances to the OVAC 1A/3A finals on Saturday.