HURRICANE ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” The Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles and Hurricane Redskins finished the 2025 season playing each other, with Woodrow winning the Class AAA boys soccer state title, 2-1.
The two programs met on the pitch to start the 2025 season in Putnam County.
Last WednesdayÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s final score mirrored the last meeting, with the Flying Eagles taking each teamÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s first game of the season, 2-1.
Woodrow Wilson scored its two goals in the first 18 minutes of the game then tied that to a strong defensive effort to get the victory.
»I really needed to see us play 80 minutes against a quality opponent. We definitely had that tonight,» Flying Eagles coach Steve Laraba said. «There are were some questions asked of us, and, for the most part, we answered them.
»This is a tough place to come. Hurricane is a great team. They have a great program. They had a great crowd. Getting your first win of the season on the road against a team as good as Hurricane is always positive.»
Hurricane struggled in the opening 30 minutes of the game, as Woodrow Wilson continued to get past HurricaneÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s defense.
The Redskins eventually got a goal to get past the Flying Eagles with 6:51 left in the first half, as Harris Coulter drilled a shot to the back of the net, with Jack Willis getting the assist.
Hurricane coach Kent Bailey saw that his team was struggling early on, which led to adjustments.
However, he feels that the two early goals by Woodrow Wilson were hard to respond to.
»We had to figure out a back line,» Bailey said. «We made some adjustments early in the first half. Unfortunately, we gave up two goals before we found the right fit. But, youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to have that in game one, along with all the first-game jitters and all those kinks.
»We have to settle back a little bit. IÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m sure weÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll come back stronger.»
Woodrow Wilson got its first goal nine minutes into the contest, with Jonathan Scott netting the first goal of the season for the Flying Eagles.
A little under nine minutes later, Alex Belcher got a piece of the Woodrow scoring total, as he got his shot past the Hurricane defense.
»Those two goals were massive because Hurricane came out with a ton of energy to start,» Laraba said. «The crowd was behind them, and to get the goals like we did were important.»
Hurricane had multiple shots on goal then had other shots sail around the goal.
The Redskins had a chance with 29 minutes left in the second half, as CoulterÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s free kick drilled the crossbar, preventing Hurricane to get another goal.
»They did a good job of crashing us in the midfield,» Bailey said. «They gave us the sidelines, and we took advantage of it. We just couldnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t get time in the box. They did a great job pressuring us in their defensive third and just closed us down.
»ItÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s great coaching on their part. They also have a solid back line. TheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re also tough defensively.»
Woodrow WilsonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s next game is a matchup against the Morgantown Mohigans this Saturday.
Laraba was pleased to get a key victory against a team like Hurricane before getting into the first few weeks of the regular season.
»This was important for us,» Laraba said. «We want to play as many of the top programs in the state as we can. With that comes the new classifications and north-south regions, the regular season means a little bit more than it did in the past.
Hurricane will end its two-game homestand to start its season on Thursday with the St. Albans Red Dragons coming to Putnam County.
