By Dave Morrison
It might not have been a bend it like Beckham shot, as the old soccer analogy goes about those long bending shots David Beckham made famous, but it turned out that bend it like Jada Wilburn worked out fine for Oak Hill.
Wilburn’s corner kick from the left side did indeed bend and the ball got by the Woodrow keeper for the first goal, and she added another 17 minutes later as Oak Hill held off the Flying Eagles 2-1 at Paul Cline Stadium Tuesday.
It was Oak Hill’s first win against the Flying Eagles in three years.
After a scoreless first half, Wilburn, daughter of coach Gerald Wilburn, found herself with a kick from the left corner.
“Normally I can curve corners in,” Wilburn said, only a tad bit facetiously. “So, my dad was like ‘curve it in.’ So I put some spin on it, (the Woodrow keeper Mia Seiter) slipped and it rolled in. And I was like, ‘Woah, maybe I can curve it in.’”
It was a brutal way to give up a goal.
“It’s unlucky,” coach Julie Agnor said. “Mia has really stepped up. It’s been a hard transition for her, she does not want to play goalie. But she has embraced it. She is just going to get better and better.”
And save a couple for fortuitous bounces, she played well.
“She played really good and I’m really proud,” Agnor said. “I will say I will never be disappointed in the way she played. She gave it all. To lose that way is heart-wrenching.”
That goal broke the scoreless tie at the 37:07 mark of the second half.
She was also the recipient of some good luck on the second goal, when she blasted in a kick over the head of Seiter off a rebound.
“The keeper fumbled the kick and it played right to me and I kicked it over her head,” Wilburn said.
It was key goal because Woodrow Wilson scored 36 seconds when Isabella Umberger launched a shot, off an assist from Nevaiah Simmons, that got over the head of Oak Hill keeper Taylor Suttle.
“We played tight,” coach Wilburn said. “Every time we come over here it’s a big task. We moved the ball in spurts but there was a lot going on and we made a lot of mistakes too.”
Woodrow controlled the possessions in the first half and had several opportunities they couldn’t convert.
“We made some adjustments and (Woodrow) didn’t make a lot of adjustments and our conditioning,” coach Wilburn said of the second half difference. “Over the summer we had some good running programs and it showed at the end of the ball game.”
“They came out in the second half with a vengeance and we just kind of set back and let it happen,” Agnor said. “We held the ball too long and they cut down our passing lanes and that’s basically what happened in the second half.”
Coach Wilburn praised the play of his keeper Suttle.
“Taylor stepped up and made some big plays,” he said. “That one ball (Umberger’s goal) was just a perfect ball. She caught it perfect and put it exactly where she couldn’t get it. She was off her line a little bit and it snuck in over her head. Overall, Taylor played tremendous today.”
There was a extra incentive Jada Wilburn said.
“We came here to try to win home field advantage, so we can play (the sectional tournament) on our grass,” Wilburn said. “Now we have to beat (Greenbrier East). We aren’t as good on the turf, we have to get them on our home field grass.”
For Woodrow Wilson, Agnor said it was a lesson for her young team.
“Our girls have got to realize it’s going to take all of them,” Agnor said. “They were used to relying on a couple of players. They are going to have to realize it’s going to take all of them.”
Oak Hill (2-0) is home against Ripley on Saturday. Woodrow Wilson (0-2) is back in sectional action Thursday hosting Greenbrier East.
