Both Buckhannon-Upshur High School soccer teams suffered defeats in the sectional championships Thursday night, bringing their 2019 campaigns to an end.

The Lady Bucs faced Morgantown in the early match, with B-U hosting as the top seed in the section. But the Lady Mohigans avenged an early season loss to Buckhannon-Upshur, rallying from a 1-0 deficit to claim the sectional title with a 2-1 win.

The game started strong for the Lady Bucs, with Cameron Zuliani scoring in the first minute of play. But Morgantown kept up the pressure with their talented front line and eventually notched both the equalizer and go-ahead goal to put an end to B-U’s 2019 season.

The Bucs, meanwhile, found their high flying offense stymied in the nightcap. University clamped down on goal maestro Ryan Hurst, severely limiting his touches throughout the match, and turned away several late B-U scoring chances to preserve the shutout.

The Hawks scored twice in the first half to establish a comfortable lead and then added extra insurance with a third strike late to put the game at it’s final 3-0 margin. With the sectional title in hand, University will now head to the northern panhandle for regional action.

“I felt this group really got B-U soccer back on track,” head coach Mike Donato said after the game. “I can’t thank them enough for that, particularly our seniors and captains.

“As for the game, we just couldn’t really recover from a slow start in the first half. We had some stagnant play and University was able to capitalize. We made some good adjustments in the second half and I felt that momentum really swung in our favor, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net. I wish University best of luck next week in regionals.”

My Buckhannon will be updating our photo galleries soon with photos from the late season games. Stay tuned for an update.