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STEUBENVILLE -- The Catholic Central girls' soccer team has a lot of talent and experience up top, and it paid dividends against rival Madonna.
Maria Meyer recorded a hat trick and an assist, while Jackie O'Karma also collected a hat trick leading the Crusaders to a 7-0 victory against the Blue Dons Wednesday evening at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.
"I can't say enough about Maria Meyer," Catholic Central (4-0) head coach Jonathan Hoover said. "She's in her senior season, and she is coming off of a successful junior year where she played very well.
"Jackie has a lot of speed. She is aggressive. She can find her way to the goal. We'll take this all season."
The Crusaders tallied five goals in the first half before delivering two more in the second.
"We have a new defense," first-year Madonna (1-1) head coach Adam Welsh said. "We have a lot of new girls. Girls are playing in new positions. We have a lot of learning to do.
"Right now, I am preaching effort and communication on the field. They are doing well with that. We are coming along.
"The effort and communication is there, and the skills will follow. We are developing our skills at every practice and at every game.
"We have a lot of girls who have never played before."
Maisy Symington also netted a goal for the hosts, while Theresa Kerker produced an assist.
"That is what we always to do," Hoover said about his team getting contributions from several players. "We want to use as many players as we can. We don't want to rely on just one. If we do that, it makes us easy to stop. If we have different girls scoring, that will make it hard on the defense."
Central used two goalies in the match. Megan Brown started in goal, and she made three saves. Josey Urbanczyk replaced Brown during the second half, and she finished with one save.
"Their defense was stout," Welsh said. "They are really strong. They made it hard on us."
Julia Wingett made 13 saves in goal for the visitors from Hancock County.
"It is always tough when you have a small roster," Hoover said about Madonna. "We knew they were going to play hard. We knew they were still going to be aggressive. We knew they were not going to quit. They are always a quality team."
Madonna is scheduled to play John Marshall at noon Saturday at home.
Catholic Central is slated to play Linsly at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday down at the Highlands.
"I am pleased with the progress we have shown," Hoover said. "We have a tough week ahead. We play three tough opponents. We are looking to keep playing well. We want to keep doing what we are doing. We want to continue to focus on the positives."