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STEUBENVILLE -- The Big Red boys' soccer team had a lot of chances, however, they it did not score a lot of goals.
Big Red -- the No. 3 seed -- netted the first goal against No. 4 seed University to take an early 1-0 lead, however, the Hawks scored three unanswered goals to defeat Big Red, 3-1, in the consolation final of the OVAC Class 5A Tournament Thursday evening on Reno Saccoccia Field inside Harding Stadium.
"As well as we finished the other day, we finished as bad today," Big Red (8-3-3) head coach Greg Bowers said. "We had plenty of opportunities in the game. If we finished some of those, the entire complexion of the game changes."
Hayden Hicks delivered the lone goal of the match for the Red-and-Black. Cole Bowers assisted on the goal
Robby Lucas made seven saves in goal for the home team.
Nate Lindsey, Davion Huckaby and Brock Shuba all tallied a goal for the boys from Monongalia County. Pierre Kpegba produced the lone assists for the victors.
"We watched film on them," Coach Bowers said. "We knew they like to possess the ball, and that they had talented players in the midfield.
University (8-6-1) goalie Finn Worstorff made multiple key saves in the second half to keep the boys from Jefferson County off the scoreboard.
"He made some great saves where I don't know how we got a hand on the ball," Coach Bowers said. "We weren't able to get any rebounds. That is the game of soccer. That happens sometimes."
Worstorff finished the match with 10 saves.
After Hicks scored to give the boys from Jefferson County a 1-0 lead, it appeared as if the boys in black would take the lead into halftime, however, that was not the case as Lindsey scored the first goal for the boys in the white jerseys in the final few minutes of the first half.
"Hayden had that goal, and then we had some close opportunities that would have made it 2-0 or 3-0 at the half, however, they scored that goal with four minutes left in the half," Coach Bowers said. "You always hate to see that. They were able to score and tie it up. It seemed like whoever was able to score first in the second half was going to win. They were able to get that second goal, and they were able to win the game."
Huckaby found the back of the net with 6:17 left in the match to give the Hawks a 2-1 advantage.
The hosts pushed forward trying to net the equalizer, however, University was able to score on a breakaway off a counterattack as Shuba put the game away with his goal with 2:21 still showing on the scoreboard clock.
"We pushed forward trying to score," Bowers said. "That goal was a product of us pushing forward. We push forward, and we had too many guys on the other end of the field. We push forward trying to get to overtime, but it didn't work out."
Big Red defeated No. 6 seed Brooke, 9-3, in the quarterfinals last Tuesday at home, while University defeated No. 5 seed Parkersburg South, 4-1, that same night at home. Wheeling Park – the top seed in the tournament – defeated University, 8-1, this past Thursday at home in the semifinals, while No. 2 seed Morgantown defeated Big Red, 5-1, in the semifinals that same night. Wheeling Park defeated Morgantown, 6-1, in the tournament final this past Saturday down at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Big Red is scheduled to take on city-rival Catholic Central at 2 p.m. Saturday at home in the 12th Annual Together We Care Event.
"It is the 12th Together We Care Event," Coach Bowers said. "We play Catholic Central. It is a rivalry game. We cannot sulk about this one. We're going to practice tomorrow and get ready to go for Saturday."
University is slated to play Parkersburg at 7:45 p.m. Tuesday on the road.