CELEBRATION — Weir High’s Alex Guio is swarmed by teammates after scoring a game-clinching goal in the sixth round of a shootout to beat Oak Glen in the OVAC Class 4A tournament quarterfinals Monday at Jimmy Carey Stadium. - Andrew Grimm

WEIRTON — Perhaps the best way to describe Monday’s OVAC Class 4A quarterfinal match is simply a roller coaster of emotions.

Host Weir High, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, trailed at halftime, had a late lead get away, came close to winning in overtime then erased a deficit in the shootout to edge county rival No. 5 seed Oak Glen, 4-3, and advance to the semis.

“It was a great game,” Weir High head coach Adam Welsh said. “We knew they would come out with some energy, we just played them last week. We got down, but we were playing well. We were doing everything but finding the back of the net. In that second half we started scoring.

“I just love the fight in the boys. I’m proud of everybody’s effort. I just thought everybody gave a great effort. A county rivalry in the OVACs, we expected it to be a battle.”

The Golden Bears (3-9), thanks to a pair of first half goals from CJ Duty, led 2-0 after the first 40 minutes. The Red Riders (5-8), though, were not ready to go away.

“I think we hit every part of the post and crossbar,” Welsh said. “The boys just didn’t quit and kept fighting. They have some fight in them and they’re not going to back down from a challenge. We’ve had some trials and tribulations through the beginning of the year but they’ve kept working hard and getting better and that’s all I can ask from them.

“We’re really happy to come out of here with a W.”

Caiden Lamp got the Red Riders on the board less than six minutes into the second half, converting on a penalty kick, then, less than six minutes later, Jared Bishof fired a loose ball into the twine to knot the score at 2-2.

Weir had some chances to take the lead just miss, and the Golden Bears had a golden opportunity to go back on top when Duty was awarded a PK with more than 26 minutes to go, but he fired the shot just wide.

With 13:15 to go, Weir did finally break again when Micah Hvizdack knocked a rebound into the net to give Weir its first lead.

However, the Golden Bears weren’t done yet as with 7:20 to play Bode Konchar looped a corner kick inside the post to knot the score back up at 3-3.

Weir hit the goal post with about five minutes to play, then hit another post and had another opportunity go just wide in the first of two five minute overtimes.

In the second OT, the Golden Bears fired a shot off the crossbar and Weir was denied on a free kick to send the game to a shootout to decide the winner.

Through the first three rounds, Oak Glen held a 2-0 lead, but Weir scored on its next four attempts and Red Riders keeper Ben Howard stopped two of the last three to give the Riders the shootout and the game by the same 4-3 margin.

“That is probably one the best games we’ve been a part of in my time coaching,” Oak Glen head coach Dallas Brewer said. “It stings, anytime it goes to PKs it can go either way. We practiced PKs (Saturday) and it went really well so I felt confident going into it, but it just didn’t go our way. (Weir) just made some better shots than we did.

“I can genuinely say this team will not stop fighting regardless of what the score is.”

The Red Riders advance to face No. 2 seed Harrison Central on the road at Wagner Field on Wednesday. The Huskies had a first-round bye. The winner of that match will advance to Saturday’s final.

Oak Glen is off until Oct. 2 when it takes on Wheeling Central.