John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — On a cold and rain-soaked night, Wheelersburg started fast and finished faster to punch its ticket to a fifth regional championship game in the past six seasons.
Freshman Carson Estep scored a header with nine minutes to play, giving the Pirates a late lead over Unioto in Wednesday’s Division IV regional semifinal.
And, a little over three minutes later, Evan Mitchell scorched a left-footed shot from just outside the box to seal the deal and send ‘Burg to Sunday’s regional title game by a 4-2 final.
“[The win] feels amazing,” Carson Estep said. “I love playing with these guys. They are my family and I have to give all glory to God. We have to keep it up in practice, everything we do in practice is for this right here.”
As the rain poured down early, and often, the Pirates’ offense shot out of a cannon in the first three minutes. Estep dribbled down the sideline and sent a left-footed cross across the goal mouth.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The ball skipped past a defender to Coleton Schwamburger, who collected possession and calmly knocked it into the back of the net to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead at the 37:08 mark.
“That’s something we worked on this week, that first goal,” Wheelersburg coach Jon Estep said. “Every day, we’ve worked on finishing those crosses. One of Carson’s skills on that left side is his ability to use his left foot to play balls in there. Coleton is the right spot, right time. He didn’t rush it and was able to finish it three minutes in. To see what we wanted to work on all week come into play, and put to use, was great. We talk about starting fast and, obviously, in a game like this, it was big for our guys at the beginning.”
Unioto responded well to Wheelersburg’s fast start with an offensive fury of its own. Sophomores Elliott Allsop and Luke Mautz each sent off long-range shots. However, Wheelersburg’s outstanding keeper, Breyden Byrd, laid out to make a pair of brilliant saves in the opening minutes.
“It’s been everything,” Mitchell said of Byrd’s defense. “Breyden got the shutout record and that says a lot about him and our backline. They come in every game prepared, it’s a lot of preparation to be ready for these moments. We stayed together as a family and we were all connected today.”
Byrd and his senior-laden defense of Clark Weller, Andrew Tabor, Sean Bays, and Kayson Whitt, did what they could to slow down the high-powered Tanks after that initial burst.
PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s regional semifinal win over Unioto
Byrd wasn’t the only keeper who had to deal with a dynamic offensive duo as Wheelersburg’s Evan Mitchell and Nick Sylvia, who combine to rank third in OHSAA history in career goals, caused havoc throughout the early goings as ‘Burg looked to add to the lead.
With the Pirates bearing down on the Unioto goal, the Shermans’ Blake Egginger made multiple outstanding stops of his own to keep his team in the ball game.
Egginger, along with the defensive efforts of Bryce Derringer, Liam Mathey, Tanner Beam, Kooper Lambert and Johnny Wetzel, dealt with an onslaught from the Pirates, but were able to keep the game tight despite a possession advantage for Wheelersburg.
However, the amount of shots from the Pirates eventually allowed the orange and black to take a 2-0 lead with 11:06 left in the first half. Gilberto Durate dribbled down the end line before sending a left-footed cross towards the penalty spot where Estep connected with a strike into the top of the net.
After the teams went to the locker room to regroup, both made adjustments as the Pirates looked to sure up their possession while the Shermans added to their offensive attack.
That adjustment worked out for Unioto with a pair of quick goals for the Shermans, which eventually tied the game.
Allsop was able to get a step on the Pirates’ back line before Byrd saved his first attempt, but was not able to corral the deflection. Allsop gathered the rebound and slotted a shot into the net with 26:44 to play, cutting the lead to 2-1.
Just over five minutes later, Unioto lined up for a corner with Mautz sending an inswinger towards the six-yard box. Mathey elevated and powered a header that just crossed the goal line with 21:13 to play, sending the large Sherman crowd into a frenzy in a 2-2 tie.
Despite the obvious shift in momentum, the experienced Pirates were not rattled by the tie score.
The Pirates’ attack picked up in a hurry as Mitchell began to control the action with his dribble, eventually finding an opening on the right sideline.
Mitchell then sent a high, arcing cross towards the backpost where Estep skied over his defender and scored a header with just nine minutes to play.
“Evan sets the tone for us every day at practice,” Jon Estep said. “Him and Nick are the hardest workers every day at practice. Every rep is an important rep to him, and to watch him do it only helps those around him. At the end, he had some gaps and some openings. Evan got to the corner and for as small as Carson is, to be able to finish off that cross, was big for the momentum that we needed there at the end.”
Unioto opened the field even more in an attempt to draw even once again, which gave Mitchell all of the room he needed to make some magic happen. He took the ball near the right sideline and dribbled through multiple defenders to his left before uncorking a low, left-footed shot that nearly ripped the strings of the net with 5:55 to play, all but sealing the victory.
“It means everything,” Mitchell said. “First, I want to give all glory to God. It was a dog fight out there and you know this game means everything to us, to me, and we’ve prepared a lot for it. So to come out with a win today is huge for us.”
While Unioto’s season comes to a close, Wheelersburg will advance to a Division IV regional final at 2 p.m., Sunday at Logan High School.
The Pirates will face River View and the two do have history.
The Black Bears ended Wheelersburg’s season last fall with a 4-2 win in the regional title game before eventually winning the state championship.
“Our motto has been to stay ready, stay ready for the moment,” Jon Estep said. “Whether it’s a minute or whether it’s 80 minutes, what are you doing to stay ready for your team? And our guys did a great job of that tonight.”
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