PARKERSBURG — No. 1 vs. No. 5 in Class AAA girls soccer promised to be a good game — and it certainly was Thursday night at the Erickson All-Sports Facility. Only one goal was scored, that was by host Parkersburg South in the 13th minute and the top-ranked Patriots staved off Ripley the rest of the way en route to a 1-0 win over the fifth-rated Vikings to claim a sectional championship and advance to next week’s regional. The victory upped South’s impressive record to 18-1-2, while Ripley deserved a better season-ending fate in finishing with a superior mark too at 16-3-3. But in the end, all it took for the Patriots was a single score when Ellie Foggin got the ball to Jordan Huffman, who got a pass to freshman Samara Nunn on the move outside the football 20-yard line and she took it right down the middle to boot it home with just 12:37 elapsed in the match. Before the game ended though, there was lots of action, especially in the second half. With 17:45 to play, Nunn fed Huffman and her shot on goal from the left saw Ripley goalie Taylor Kennedy make a diving save at the right side of the net. At 13:05 before the final horn, Ripley unleashed a sharp shot on goal, but South keeper Kendall Mader made a nifty save. A free kick from an acute angle right of the goal by the Vikings’ Olivia Gandee was headed away with a little more than six minutes to play. And in the last five to six minutes, South was kicking the ball away from Ripley and down the field at every opportunity. “They applied some pressure and we gave them a little more space than we should have given them in the first half,” said South head coach Ron Bucholtz. “But our girls have defended brilliantly as a team all season, and there was no exception tonight. We limited their chances. We know they have some dangerous players and we contained them very effectively.” To which Bucholtz added, “we had some good moments going forward ourselves,” obviously singling out the game’s lone goal “that was just a brilliant play. We had a great first touch over to Jordan, who found Samara and she found the back of the net.” Bucholtz gave credit to Ripley, “a good quality team and it’s a shame they have to bow out this early. But I’m glad we’re moving on obviously. Our girls have played exceptional soccer all season, and we’ve lived with our defense all season and now have 14 shutouts.” South will next face the Hurricane-Cabell Midland sectional winner in regional play.