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Oak Glen girls eliminated in regional championship

CONCLUDING — Jori Alexander and the Oak Glen girls soccer team fell in the Class AA/A Region 1 championship to East Fairmont, 2-1, in overtime on Thursday. -Joe Catullo

FAIRMONT — The Oak Glen girls soccer team fell short of making it back to the West Virginia state tournament after falling to Fairmont Senior, 2-1, in overtime Thursday in the Class AA/A Region 1 championship.

The Golden Bears (17-3-1) struck first on a Reece Enochs goal within the first seven minutes of the match. Brooklyn Watts was credited with the assist, adding to her West Virginia single-season record (37 overall).

Fairmont was able to tie the game with two seconds remaining before halftime. That score stood until sudden-death overtime.

During that time, Oak Glen celebrated after Enochs connected on a shot attempt, but it was called back due to being offside. Fairmont connected on its golden goal opportunity with less than three minutes remaining.

The Golden Bears had 11 shots on goal, and Alexus Greenlief made four saves.

“This will be one of the toughest pages to turn after a season for me as a coach. It’s been a great four years, and this group was special,” Oak Glen head coach Ryan Wells said. “None of them will be defined by this one game. They are much bigger than that. It’s been a heck of a ride.

“We all want to wish Fairmont Senior the best of luck down in Beckley. I hope they make some great memories together. They played hard.”

The seniors departing are Enochs (this season’s OVAC Class 4A player of the year), Kaitlynn Lamp, Brooklyn Loveland, Jori Alexander, Skylar Adkins, Lily Allen and Mia Ridgeway.

“This group of seniors has nothing to hang their heads about,” Wells said. “Most of them played all four years and always did what I asked of them. We set and broke records together. I know this wasn’t how they envisioned this year coming to an end, but sometimes the game of soccer is like that. Brooklyn Loveland, Reece and Jori aren’t done – they’ll play at the next level.

“As for our eight starters coming back and the rest of our group, we’ll all learn from this. The core and backbone of this team is returning. Most of them will have a soccer ball on their foot this spring, and we’ll get back after this summer.”

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