TENNERTON – The second half got away from the Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers in their non-conference game with the Wheeling Park Patriots Tuesday evening at the high school.
The Bucs trailed at the break by a 2-0 score and wound up dropping a 6-0 decision.
Tresz McLeod had two goals while Matto Gattesco added a goal and an assist for the Patriots.
“We came in with a game plan we thought would work and the through the first half it seemed to be working fine,” remarked Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Mike Donato. “We knew they would play high pressure and build through Gattesco and McLeod. We slowed them down and were able to create chances, but I give Wheeling Park head coach (Mario) Julian a lot of credit. He came out with some strong adjustments in the second half, and we just couldn’t match. There are some simple things we didn’t seem to do well tonight that we will be sure to work on to be ready for Saturday.”
Wilson Hanna gave Wheeling Park the lead just four minutes in after playing a pass from Gattesco and scoring from 18 yards out.
McLeod scored his first of two goals in the 17th minute after the Bucs misplayed a ball in their own and he scored with a shot to the near post giving the Patriots their 2-0 lead.
Wheeling Park managed goals from McLeod, Gattesco, Hanna and Lorenzo Donzella in the second half.
The Bucs trailed in shots-on-goal by a 13-4 margin was trailed in corner kicks by a 10-0 margin.
Buckhannon-Upshur was guilty of nine fouls while Wheeling Park was called for 10.
B-U keeper Slaton Kowalkoski made seven stops while Wheeling Park goalie Gavin Border turned away four shots.
The loss dropped the Bucs to 0-3 on the season.
They will return to the pitch Saturday hosting Webster County in a non-conference game with a noon start time.
The boxscore:
Wheeling Park 2 4 – 6
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 0 – 0
Scoring
Wheeling Park – Wilson Hanna (Matteo Gattesco assist), 4th minute
Wheeling Park – Tresz McLeod (unassisted), 17th minute
Wheeling Park – McLeod (unassisted), 45th minute
Wheeling Park – Gattesco (unassisted), 64th minute
Wheeling Park – Hanna (unassisted), 70th minute
Wheeling Park – Lorenzo Donzella (unassisted), 79th minute
Shots-on-goal – Wheeling Park: 13; Buckhannon-Upshur: 4.
Fouls – Wheeling Park: 10; Buckhannon-Upshur: 9.
Corner kicks – Wheeling Park: 10; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0.
Saves – Wheeling Park: Gavin Border 4; Buckhannon-Upshur: Slaton Kowalkoski 7.