Dean, OHHS mates enter postseason

Oct. 17—West Virginia high school soccer programs have initiated postseason tournament play, and the Oak Hill Red Devil girls are among the teams hoping to inflict some damage on their opponents this week.

OHHS senior center back Sam Dean feels her team has the capability to take that opportunity and turn it into success on the pitch.

Oak Hill, the top seed, opens play in Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 girls tournament action on Tuesday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. against No. 4 Princeton.

In the game on the other side of the bracket, No. 3 Greenbrier East visits No. 2 Woodrow Wilson at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The championship will be played at the highest remaining seed on Thursday.

Dean was sidelined in her freshman year after knee surgery, but she's been a three-year starter for the Red Devils since then. She is one of four senior team captains, along with Peyton Light, Jade Babkirk and Ava Curtis.

Dean says the squad has settled down as the 2023 season progressed.

"I think that we were a bit nervous at first because we had lost some key seniors in the center of our field, but honestly our freshmen that have come up are all really good," she said. "We have a stacked bench, like, I feel our bench is really deep. Everyone has a talent. You can put anyone in a varsity game and they would show up and play their hardest and be there for us.

"We have actually a really young team and a really strong team."

About the upcoming tournament, she says, "I think (we can win). We just all need to put all our effort into it. If we put all our effort and try our hardest, I think we definitely have a chance."

Dean said that, although she wouldn't mind being a bigger part of the Oak Hill offense, she's very happy helping anchor the defense.

"It's my most comfortable position because I can see the whole field," she said. "I feel like I have a big voice, so I talk to my players a lot. I yell a lot, but not like at them, I help them."

"I play hard, I know that, I do play hard," added Dean, who also runs track for the Red Devils.

She says that, if she pursues her college degree at a bigger university, she's likely to consider playing club soccer. "If I go to a big college, I'm probably going to play club, but if I have an opportunity (to play above the club level), I would definitely take it, to do something bigger."

Dean really enjoys her sport and is excited with the chance to keep extending her time on the pitch. "It's a great game. I think it brings all of us together, and it's really competitive right now, especially at sectional time."

She looks at herself as a good, dedicated leader for the Red Devils. "I'll be here at every practice," she said. "I'll be here at every run in the morning.

"And, honestly, if the ball is coming and it's going at our goal, if I can get there, my body's going to be in front of it."

Scoring a handful of goals might be fun, she says, but that's not her main contribution. "I kind of wish I could dribble up, but honestly as long as I'm protecting my goal, that's my job. I don't need to focus (on scoring)."

"Super Sam Dean, that's what I call her," Oak Hill head coach Gerald Wilburn said of Dean, a second team all-state selection as a junior. "I've watched her play her whole life, and she's always been a standout.

"She played with Ty (his son and former OHHS boys standout), and he always had problems with her. That whole group's been pretty tight their whole life."

"She's just an amazing kid," Wilburn added. "You won't find another tougher competitor. The grit. She's just one of a kind."

The Red Devils split with Woodrow Wilson in the regular season, beat Greenbrier East twice and beat Princeton twice.

"It will be a very tough sectional," Wilburn said. "I'm just glad we're out of the 2-3 game, because that game is so tough and grueling.

"We've been in some dogfights with East every time we've played them in that 2-3 game (including an OT decision in a shootout once). You're banged up at the end of the year anyway, and it makes (it tougher)."

"Our team's really deep this year, and I think we've got a good chance of winning," Dean said. "We're just going to lay it on the field and see what happens."

Oak Hill last emerged as girls section champions during Dean's freshman year. The Devils fell to Woodrow in last year's section title game.

Some sectional soccer schedules/results via The Register-Herald are as follows:

Class AA/A Region 3

Girls

Section 1

Monday

No. 1 Bluefield 4, No. 3 PikeView 1

No. 2 Shady Spring 7, No. 3 James Monroe 1

Wednesday

Championship, Shady Spring at Bluefield, 6 p.m.

Section 2

Wednesday

No. 4 Midland Trail at No. 1 Charleston Catholic, 6 p.m.

No. 3 Nicholas County at No. 2 Pocahontas County,

Saturday

Championship, at highest remaining seed, 11 a.m.

Boys

Section 1

Monday

No. 4 Bluefield 3, No. 5 Mingo Central 2

No. 3 James Monroe 12, No. 6 Westside 0

Wednesday

Bluefield winner at No. 1 Shady Spring, 6 p.m.

James Monroe winner at No. 2 PikeView, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Championship, at highest remaining seed, TBA

Class AAA Region 3

Girls

Section 2

Tuesday

No. 4 Princeton at No. 1 Oak Hill, 7 p.m.

No. 3 Greenbrier East at No. 2 Woodrow Wilson, 6 p.m.

Thursday

Championship, at highest remaining seed, TBA

Boys

Section 2

Tuesday

No. 4 Oak Hill at No. 1 Woodrow Wilson, 8 p.m.

No. 3 Princeton at No. 2 Greenbrier East, 7 p.m.

Thursday

Championship, at highest remaining seed, TBA

Email: skeenan@register-herald.com; follow on Facebook