Big Red boys roll to district semis
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STEUBENVILLE -- Big Red's regular season may not have ended the way it wanted, but its tournament run could not have started any better.
Greg Bowers' club quickly put only its second regulation loss of the season behind it and came out flying to open Division II East 2 District tournament play, rolling to a 12-1 sectional win over West Holmes on Reno Field.
"We were focused," Bowers, the veteran Big Red head coach, said. "We didn't end the regular season the way we wanted (a loss to Brooke), so we just wanted to come out here and play a good game of soccer.
"This team has goals and we were seeded high. We want to make a good run so we know we have to be focused and take it one game at a time."
Big Red (13-2-2) scored four times in a nine-minute span early in the first half to take control and scored three times in a four-minute span late in the half, ultimately opening a 9-1 halftime lead, allowing several of Big Red's young players to get on the field in the second half.
"We were able to play some younger guys, we're a young team as is," Bower said. "Some of our younger guys were able to get some quality varsity minutes in a tournament game and that's always big.
"We wanted to get some different guys rotated in and play in some different positions and we were able to do that."
Steubenville, the No. 2 seed, worked all season to secure a home sectional game, and Bowers was happy to see his club take advantage.
"It's nice to have a home playoff game, and with that home playoff game you have to take advantage of it," Bowers said.
Matt Loot had a monster night, scoring four goals, including the second and third of the game in the seventh and eighth minutes. Cole Bowers, who opened the scoring in the third minute, had a hat trick and an assist, while Anthony Vendetti connected for two goals and an assist.
Aidan Morales had a goal and an assist, James Devereaux and RJ Stewart each had a goal, while Luke Divovo and Isaac Rosel each had two assists, Nick Nurczyk and Martie Lovato each adding an assist.
Vendetti's two goals came back-to-back after Loot's initial two. Denovo and Stewart had the only goals in the second half.
For the Knights (0-18), it was a tough end to a tough season – though getting on the board with Peyton Martin's goal in the 36th minute was a positive moment.
"We had a tough year," West Holmes head coach Josh Wengerd said. "We only had 15 guys total, no jayvee team, and eight of our guys are freshmen with very little or no experience. This is what it's been like all season for us. It's always sad to have your season come to an end, but we're looking forward to the future and keeping working hard in the offense to build this program back up.
"This was kind of what we expected coming in, we knew Steubenville was a very good team.
"Scoring was great, because we only had eight goals all season and it had been a while. To get on the board was a feather in our cap, something to keep the boys excited for next year and talk about in the offseason."
With the win, Big Red advances to take on No. 7 Minerva, who won its sectional contest 7-0 over No. 10 Morgan on Tuesday, next Tuesday at Harrison Central's Wagner Field.