Whiteoak Wildcats earn tournament win over Rock Hill

SUGAR TREE RIDGE — The Whiteoak Wildcats played their final game at their field located next to Bright Elementary on Tuesday and left it with a dominating 8-0 win for a victory in the Division V District First Round. 

The shutout and “mercy rule” win over the visiting No. 18 Rock Hill Redmen saw the No. 15 seeded Whiteoak lead 6-0 at halftime, and they scored their final two goals for the 8-0 lead in the second half with 28:01 left in regulation, ending the game. 

Teams up by eight goals in the second half end the game with the win under OHSAA tournament rules. 

“All-around, we played a great game,” WHS head coach Adam Schelling said. “From the backs all the way up to the top, we wanted to work on more possession and turn into a more possession team, and I think we did that. We worked the ball, kept the ball on the ground more, found those drops, found those wide balls and circled back into the middle. 

“For the last game on this field for us, I’m pretty tickled about this performance.”

A new sports complex with turf fields is currently under construction at Whiteoak High School.  

Whiteoak had a three-goal performance from Christopher Wessner and two goals scored by Jaden Fitzgerald. Also with goals scored were Tre Lamb, Shawn Mitchell-Cox and Lucas Pollard. 

The Wildcats had an assist from Abe Flader. At goal for WHS was Evan Richmond with two saves. 

“Having a lead like we did at halftime allowed me to get some more guys in off the bench and get playing time in. The guys who came off the bench played phenomenal as well,” Schelling said. “They got two goals too, so all-around from the bench to the starters, they played phenomenal.

“We have to lock it in and get ready for North Adams on Thursday. They are a super tough opponent. They are good and have been good all year. They only have two losses on the year, so we’ll have to buckle down defensively and be ready to play our best soccer.”

Since the start of the season, the Wildcats have shown improvement that Coach Schelling is impressed with. 

“At the start of the year, we gave up tons of goals and we weren’t gelling defensively, but as the season progressed, around the midway point, we found a formation and a lineup we settled into,” he said. “We’ve worked the ball wide more. We found possession throughout the midfield and middle, and once you do that it takes pressure off your backs, and that’s nice to do. 

“We developed nicely as the season went on. We took some tough losses early, which made our record not where we wanted it, but toward mid-year we turned things around and developed nicely.” 

Whiteoak now has an overall record of 8-9-1 this season. Rock Hill ends the season at 1-14-1 overall. 

Next for the Wildcats is a district quarterfinal match on Thursday, Oct. 16 on the road against SHAC rival, the No. 2 seeded and co-SHAC champion, the North Adams Green Devils at 5 p.m. at NAHS. Earlier this season, North Adams defeated WHS, 9-1 in SHAC play.