Grafton girls shock Lady Polar Bears; Bearcats tumble at East-West Stadium

SHAWNA GRAHAM had 12 saves to play a key role in Grafton’s win over number one-ranked Fairmont West.

GRAFTON -- When the first set of West Virginia High School Class AA Girls’ Soccer Ratings came out early last week, the Fairmont West Lady Polar Bears were ranked number one.

But, their stay at number one did not last very long, when the defendeing Class AA state champions came to town.

Coach Lorraine Isner took her defending West Virginia Class AA State Champion Grafton Lady Bearcats over to East-West Stadium last Thursday evening, and they won a 2-1 decision, shocking the Lady Polar Bears in the process.

“We played our most complete game of the season,” Isner told the Mountain Statesman, during a telephone conversation. “Our girls played well, in fact, both teams did. This was a fun soccer game to watch, to coach, and to play in.”

Madison Cochran scored from 18-yards out with a crossing shot from the right side of the field into the upper left-hand corner of the net to give Grafton a 1-0 lead, coming with 24:40 left to play in the first half.

Fairmont West answered back about 12 minutes later, when Ivey Nucilli worked her way behind the Grafton defense and tied the game at 1-1 with 12:05 left to play in the first half.

Then, Grafton’s freshman, Madison Moon, bent a corner kick into the net with 6:03 left to play in the opening half to give Grafton what would prove to be the game-winning goal, after both teams went on to play a scoreless second half.

“We moved the ball much better on offense tonight, creating some nice looks at the net, and we finished off a couple of those chances,” coach Isner added. “And, our defense has continued to play well, plus Shawna Graham played real big for us tonight in the net.”

Graham, who has played as the goalie during five shutouts so far this season, had a great game in the net for the Lady Bearcats Thursday, making 12 saves on Fairmont West’s 13 shots on goal.

The shots wound up 21-to-13, in favor of the Lady Polar Bears, with a 13-to-5 shots-on-goal ratio, also in favor of the hostesses.

Grafton had eight corner kicks and three fouls, while Fairmont West had three corner kicks and ten fouls.

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In the nightcap, the Bearcats tumbled to the Polar Bears by a 10-0 score, as Ryan Rosier (three), Alec Wadsworth (two), Fletcher DeVaul (two), Justin Sloan (one), Brent Pacoe (one) and Logan Demyon (one) scored the goals for the home team inside the friendly walls of East-West Stadium.

“There is not too much you can say about this one, we just need to put it behind us, and start thinking about playing East Fairmont next week,” coach Bryant McCarthy said. “However, I do believe this was the best team we have played so far this season.”

Fairmont West enjoyed a 20-1 advantage in shots on goal, with Grafton’s duo of Stephen Tennant (six) and Chris Lewis (four) combining for ten saves during this contest.

The Lady Bearcats improved their record to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big ten Conference, while the Bearcats slipped to 1-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play.