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Bruins fall to Patriots in sectional title game

PLAYING — Brooke’s Hunter Adams plays the ball while Wheeling Park’s Clayton Meredith defends during the Class AAA Region 1, Section 1 final on Thursday. (Photo by Cody Tomer)

WHEELING — The mission is simple for the Wheeling Park boys soccer team — getting back to the state championship.

The Patriots took the first step toward reaching that goal on Thursday, with a convincing 7-0 victory over Brooke at Wheeling Island Stadium in the Class AAA Region 1, Section 1 championship.

“We feel good about where we’re at,” Park coach Mario Julian said. “Our next opponent is going to be really difficult no matter who comes out of that section. We need to clean up some things like mental mistakes but, if we clean those things up, I think we can take care of business.”

Both Chris Romanek and Louie Aulick connected for two goals to lead the charge for Wheeling Park.

“Chris got behind the defense a couple of times and had some nice goals for us,” Julian said. “Louie has also been a difference maker for us. That’s his 23rd goal of the season, and he just started playing striker about eight games ago. So, about 15 of his goals have come in the last five or six games. He has really done a nice job for us.”

The Patriots completely controlled the ball throughout the match, out-shooting the Bruins by a 26-1 count.

“I thought our center-mids had a really strong game,” Julian said. “I thought Cole Meredith, Clay Meredith and Chris controlled the midfield. They didn’t allow them to have possession of the ball and, when they did get the ball, we won it back right away.”

Romanek kicked off the scoring just under five minutes into the action, as he raced down the field and fired a shot past Brooke keeper Matt Reed for the 1-0 edge.

Moments later, Romanek netted his second of the night, as he lobbed a shot over Reed’s head and planted it in the net.

“I thought we came out really well,” Julian said. “I thought in the first five minutes we were getting the ball wide and had some great crosses.”

The junior had an opportunity for the hat trick midway through the half, as he stepped up for a penalty kick. Reed, though, came up with a crucial save to keep the deficit at 2-0.

Michael Dague looked to extend the Park lead but came up empty on two shots after impressive saves from Reed. However, Aulick was there to collect the rebound and give Park a 3-0 advantage at halftime.

At 11:21 in the second half, Aulick garnered his second goal of the evening, as Cole Meredith found him in front of the net for the easy netter.

Dague recorded a goal of his own at 11:44 to give Park a 5-0 cushion. James Hofmann and Jason Pennybacker added goals late to seal the victory and the right to advance to regionals.

“I don’t think the score indicates how well Brooke played,” Julian said. “They made us make mistakes that we normally don’t make. That’s a credit to their kids. They played really hard, and I thought that slowed down our attack for a lot of the game.”

The duo of Brooke goalkeepers in seniors Reed and Garrett Bernardini gathered 14 and five saves, respectively.

“I can’t say enough about them,” Brooke coach Joe Pepe said of his goalkeepers. “We have three seniors in Reed, Bernardini and Nick Cruny and one junior (Josh Ferguson) on this team, and we rode their coattails all year. I think we played pretty well. We love these guys.”

Brooke finishes the season with a mark of 11-7-3, and Pepe was thrilled with what it has accomplished.

“This is the best season we have had at Brooke in a long time,” he said. “We’re very proud of this team. We have a lot of underclassmen out there getting experience from a well-seasoned team, and we won’t back down from anybody. We play a tough schedule, and we’ll be back next year.”

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