Photo by Nick Henthorn St. Clairsville’s Ethan Saffell battles for the ball Sunday during the OVAC All-Star boys soccer game at St. Clairsville High School.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The best of the Ohio Valley came together for an exhibition of their skills Sunday at St. Clairsville High School in the 2024 OVAC Soccer Senior All-Star games.

In the annual state-vs.-state outing, the West Virginia side of the river took both games Sunday, and in decisive fashion, the boys winning 11-0 and the girls winning 8-0 over their Ohio counterparts.

More important than the final scores though was the opportunity for standout seniors across the OVAC to get the spotlight one more time.

“It’s an opportunity for seniors to get together, from different schools, and play with guys that they know from around the OVAC and just have a lot of fun,” Wheeling Park head coach Mario Julian, coach of the W.Va. Boys on Sunday, said. “That was the emphasis– score lots of goals and have lots of fun. That’s what they tried to do out there.”

“We wanted to have an enjoyable experience for the seniors,” Steubenville head coach Annie Cutri, coach of the Ohio Girls on Sunday, said. “This is the last time they’ll play in their high school jersey. West Virginia is always a solid side, so we were just trying to make it fun and uplifting and empowering for the girls.”

In-between games, conference Players and Coaches of the Year were presented with their plaques. Awardees included, on the girls side, Rylee Wright, Wheeling Central (1A-3A); Gabriella Spickard, Weir (4A); and Adrienne Altizer, Parkersburg South (5A). Cutri was Coach of the Year. On the boys side, Dominic Gianangeli, Wheeling Central (1A-3A); Ethan Wood, Beaver Local (4A); and Tresz McLeod, Wheeling Park (5A) were awarded. Wheeling Central’s Brian Komorowski was Coach of the Year.

The W.Va. boys took an 8-0 lead into halftime and cruised to the finish line. It was a victory for the Mountain State after Ohio won in PK’s last year.

“We have a lot of good players– Tresz [McLeod], Riley Brabson, Aidan Stire got the defensive player of the game,” Julian said. “Some great players, and they wanted to go out there and show the skill that they have, that West Virginia has. They were excited to play in this one.”

“We have a great group of seniors on the Ohio side, and we wanted them to enjoy the game,” Greg Bowers, Steubenville head coach and the coach of the Ohio boys Sunday, said. “We knew what we were up against, that’s one of the more talented West Virginia squads that has been assembled. We did a good job competing, we had fun, I think the kids enjoyed the experience.”

Morgantown’s Aidan Stire took home W.Va. Defensive MVP, and Wheeling Park’s Tresz McLeod was awarded Offensive MVP. For Ohio, Beaver Local’s Hunter Warrick was Defensive MVP and Beaver Local’s Kaleb Mays was Offensive MVP.

The West Virginia girls led 6-0 at halftime, and tacked on a couple more in the second half. Wheeling Park’s Katelyn Smith was Offensive MVP for West Virginia, and Morgantown’s Josie Johnson was Defensive MVP. Harrison Central’s Vanessa Dowdle was Ohio’s Defensive MVP, with Ameilia Collopy receiving Offensive MVP.

“We wanted them to go out and have some fun, and play with kids they don’t get to play with any other time of the year because they’re competing against each other all season,” Parkersburg South head coach Ron Bucholtz, coach of the W.Va. girls Sunday, said. “We wanted them to come together and play some good soccer, which they did, the West Virginia girls played really well together.

“The main thing was to just have some fun and let the fans enjoy a Sunday postseason game where there’s really nothing at stake. There didn’t have to be any heat, any tension to it, nobody’s going to yell or bark at officials or anything like that. It was a good, fun, clean game. It’s always enjoyable, we had a good group of girls, and I didn’t have to do much coaching. Set a lineup, go out and have fun.”

West Virginia won 4-0 in last year’s game.