Wheelersburg junior Nick Sylvia (10), shown here splitting Valley defenders Thad Lansing (2) and Nick Queen (18), scored four goals on Tuesday night — in the Pirates’ 6-0 non-league boys soccer victory at Ed Miller Stadium.

Courtesy of Guy Queen

WHEELERSBURG — Simply put, what some observers believed —at least on paper —could have been a hotly-contested non-league boys soccer encounter on Tuesday night actually wasn’t.

In fact, quite the contrary, it was a Wheelersburg rout —with the host Pirates pitching a decisive shutout.

That’s because Breyden Byrd made it a clean sheet in goal, and fellow junior Nick Sylvia scored four goals for the Pirates —as Wheelersburg won convincingly over Valley 6-0 inside Ed Miller Stadium.

In a battle of one-loss squads coming into Tuesday night, Wheelersburg was 9-1-0, while Valley visited at 5-1-1.

It only took the standout Sylvia a minute and 43 seconds to score his first of four —off an Ethan Hochstetler assist.

Wheelersburg senior Ethan Hochstetler (21) battles Valley senior Chase Davis (1) for possession of the ball.

Courtesy of Guy Queen

Hochstetler scored himself only 11 minutes in —on a textbook picture-perfect header off a Coleton Schwamburger corner kick.

With 19-and-a-half minutes left in the opening half, Sylvia scored again —this time with a well-placed, and indeed a thing of beauty, direct kick right over the top of the Indians’ wall.

Hochstetler then assisted again —on Brody Wilburn’s goal with four minutes to go in the first 40 minutes.

Wheelersburg senior Brody Wilburn (3)

Courtesy of Guy Queen

The Pirate onslaught only continued into the second half, as did Sylvia’s personal —as he scored on a penalty kick only two minutes and 47 seconds in.

Finally, with 14:26 to play, Sylvia scored for the final time —with Wilburn with the pass.

That 6-0 score officially enforced the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s running-clock rule, which is a six-goal advantage at any point during the second half.

For the Indians, it was one thing to have no goals —but the match’s testiness from the very beginning brought out count ‘em four yellow cards.

All four were whistled on Valley with three in the second half — as Thad Lansing, Jaekyn Ridout and Jett Hall had them, as VHS coach Jacob Perry was also assessed one.

Yes, no doubt, this one was all Wheelersburg from the opening whistle.

Both the Pirates and Indians — for their only losses — had dropped road matches at Southern Ohio Conference Division II leader Minford, as the Pirates fell 3-1 against the Falcons in the SOC II on Sept. 10.

The Indians also played South Webster of the SOC II to a scoreless tie.

But Wheelersburg was firing the home cannon, and firing on all cylinders, against Valley.

It was something the Pirates had not done in a while, given their recent run of road shows.

“We’ve been on the road for two-and-a-half weeks. We hadn’t had a home game in a while, since Fairland. I told the guys that we were home finally, so let’s see what kind of energy we’re going to have. We know that Valley is always going to give us a battle and play hard,” said Wheelersburg veteran coach Jon Estep.

Sylvia’s first goal was what Wheelersburg needed only for the win.

Estep explained it.

“We wanted to see what kind of energy we were going to come out with. So we get Nick a goal there early off a great pass from Ethan. The pass got Nick through and he finished right there,” said the coach. “Right there, it was like ‘yeah we got it’. We wanted to start fast, and our guys obviously executed that tonight with three goals in the first 20 minutes. The thing I liked about it was we were attacking from all different angles and areas. We hadn’t been very good on those corner kicks this year, but we executed that one well. The runs that we were making were coming from different guys, different areas, from both inside and outside. If we can be multi-dimensional like that, it makes even more dangerous than what we tend to be. At times, we can get very basic in what we do. To be able to do that, and get up to a 4-0 lead there right before halftime, we couldn’t ask for a better 40 minutes. I’ve seen a few games from us like that over the years, and tonight was one of those nights we were just dialed in, no matter what happened.”

Speaking of dialed in, Sylvia was offensively —and Byrd defensively.

Sylvia’s four markers gave him 26 goals for his junior season, part of 88 for his decorated Pirate career to date.

He also entered the match with three season assists, part of 44 for his entire career.

“We’ve been blessed to have individual players like Nick over the years. We’ve been very fortunate to have guys like Aaron Jolly, Max Hagans, etc., and Nick falls right in line with a lot of those guys in what does. And Nick works hard at his craft. His teammates understand that and they look for him,” raved Estep. “That free kick he had, not many guys in the area can make that kick right over the top of their wall like that. He’s had a few of those this year. But again, it’s the attention to detail he puts into his work ethic. He puts a lot into his faith in the Lord and that’s what drives him along with his team.”

The third-year goalkeeper Byrd is one of Sylvia’s teammates —at the opposite end of the pitch.

An injury kept him out of the Pirate net through the early portion of the season schedule.

“We played the first third of the season without him in goal because of his finger injury, but he played on the back end for us as a defender with Caleb (Partin) playing in the goal. I think that experience really helped Breyden see what his defenders see in front of him, and as a goalie what to see and what decision-making goes into it. Breyden has gotten better every year,” explained Estep. “When he is out there for us, we are extremely confident that we have one of the best, if not the best, goalkeepers in Southeast Ohio. He’s very smart and very cerebral in what does, and gives our defense a solid sense of comfort back there. Our guys are confident playing back there to him.”

Wheelersburg junior goalkeeper Breyden Byrd makes a save against Valley during Tuesday night’s non-league boys soccer match at Wheelersburg’s Ed Miller Stadium.

Courtesy of Guy Queen

For Perry’s Indians, sophomore keeper Hunter Sparks struggled —but keep in mind whom he and Valley went up against.

It didn’t help also that the Indians had to shake off some doldrums.

Valley sophomore Jaxsyn Bender (15) battles Wheelersburg Pirate defenders for possession of the ball during Tuesday night’s non-league boys soccer match at Ed Miller Stadium.

Courtesy of Guy Queen

“It’s been seven days since we’ve played last. So I knew there was going to be some rust to knock off. It’s been a minute since we’ve played a highly-competitive game. Just the intensity difference alone. We got hit in the mouth right from the start with that first goal, and we let some things get into our heads. I don’t think our effort ever lacked. We didn’t put our heads down. We continued to play and not let the outcome which was facing us determine our effort on the field,” said Perry. “It was a tightly-called game, but I liked seeing our guys having some grit out there. We teach our guys to play through every ball, stand up, we don’t like to take many fouls. Our guys showed some annoyance tonight. If we want to get better moving forward, we have to know how to play in high-intense situations.”

The Indians are facing key conference contests ahead —including at Ironton St. Joseph on Oct. 9, for what should decide the outright SOC I championship.

Those Flyers, on Thursday, won at Valley by a count of 1-0.

“We’re going through a gauntlet the next few weeks here, where we’ve got nine games in three weeks to play,” said Perry. “We have a lot of teams left to play with good records and playing good ball. We still have an opportunity to show other teams in the district we’re still a solid ballclub.”

Which is what Wheelersburg was on Tuesday night, and continues to be as a Division IV squad —given the OHSAA’s expansion of boys soccer tournament divisions to five.

Wheelersburg senior Miller McKenzie (2)

Courtesy of Guy Queen

“We’re very excited to be 10-1-0,” said Estep. “As long as we stay healthy, I like our opportunities moving forward.”

* * *

Valley 0 0 —0

Wheelersburg 4 2 —6

W — Nick Sylvia (Ethan Hochstetler assist), 38:17, 1st (1-0 W)

W — Ethan Hochstetler (Coleton Schwamburger assist), 29:00, 1st (2-0 W)

W — Nick Sylvia (direct kick), 19:33, 1st (3-0 W)

W — Brody Wilburn (Ethan Hochstetler assist), 4:02, 1st (4-0 W)

W — Nick Sylvia (penalty kick), 37:13, 2nd (5-0 W)

W — Nick Sylvia (Brody Wilburn assist), 14:26, 2nd (6-0 W)

Reach Paul Boggs by email at [email protected], or on X @paulboggssports © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved