Philip Barbour, Lewis County bring contrasting experience to state semis

Lewis County will immediately measure itself against a team familiar with the pressures of the state tournament, two-time defending champion Charleston Catholic.

Lewis County (15-3-3) qualified with a 3-1 regional victory over Robert C. Byrd and has outscored its last five opponents by a 37-4 margin.

Keller Bennett’s penalty kick opened scoring in the ninth minute, then an errant RCB backpass went off the post and to the waiting Tanner Griffith for a 24th-minute tap-in.

Zander Cralton added a third in the 68th minute before the Eagles got one back on an own goal in the 75th minute.

Griffith has scored a school-record 42 goals this year, while Bennett (21 goals, 32 assists) has also put up video game numbers.

David Hairfield’s 18 goals and 14 assists are first-option numbers as well.

Charleston Catholic (16-6-1) fought off a pesky Shady Spring team on penalty kicks in their regional final.

Sam Delgra (20 goals, 18 assists), Aidan Anton (18 goals, 15 assists), Ethan Bastin (13 goals, five assists), Jayallen Turner (10 goals, three assists) and Owen Snyder (six goals, 16 assists) are Charleston Catholic’s major producers.

The Minutemen and Irish face off 30 minutes after the day’s opening match between No. 1 Point Pleasant and No. 4 Wheeling Central at 9:30 a.m.

On the girls side, the Colts (18-2-2) are playing in their fourth straight state tournament and aim to make their third consecutive final, taking on No. 3 Point Pleasant 30 minutes after the 4:30 p.m. semifinal between No. 1 Charleston Catholic and No. 4 Weir concludes.

The Colts and Black Knights are very familiar with one another.

They played to a 4-4 tie in Philippi on Sept. 2.

The Colts took the lead on an Arrington Sparks goal before Point Pleasant equalized in the 15th minute.

Braylyn Sparks then answered in the 17th minute and Rylee Bodkins boosted the gap to 3-1 after one half.

Turkey Grassi’s penalty kick pushed the cushion to 4-1, but then Point Pleasant dominated the rest of the game.

The Black Knights earned a PK of their own and, although Avery Swiger saved the initial attempt, Madelyn Call pounced on the rebound.

Addison Burt then redirected a Reece Oliver header in the 60th minute and McKenna Young converted a penalty kick in the 73rd minute.

Last year, they played an epic match at this stage and with the same seeds.

With Point Pleasant leading 3-2, Arrington Sparks scored with 1:59 left to knot the score, then struck again exactly three minutes into sudden-death overtime to send the Colts on to Saturday.

The four scorers for PB in the first meeting this year are the focal points of a potent offense.

Braylyn Sparks, who went over 100 career goals earlier this year, has 28 goals and 12 assists on the year, one point in front of Arrington Sparks’ 21 goals and 25 assists.

Grassi is in double figures in both categories as well with 13 goals and 14 assists and Bodkins, the only non-senior of the group, has 18 goals and nine assists.

Bodkins, along with Caylee Simons (10 goals, nine assists) supplied the goals in the Colts’ 2-0 regional victory over Elkins.

Point Pleasant enters with a 15-2-4 mark and also spreads around the offense.

Call leads with 17 goals and 11 assists, while Melina Gyberg (14 goals, seven assists), Keira Tatterson (13 goals, five assists), Oliver (11 goals, 13 assists), Burt (eight goals, three assists) and Young (seven goals, four assists) have also been productive.

The Black Knights advanced on penalties past Winfield after a scoreless regional final.

The format was changed from a Friday/Saturday setup, which often meant teams had a turnaround of 12-16 hours between their two biggest games of the season, to a Thursday/Saturday schedule this year.

The state finals are at 9:30 a.m. for the boys and approximately 12 p.m. for the girls.