FIGHTING FOR POSITION — Big Red’s Brynn Bowers battles Catholic Central’s Kenadie Balabin for the ball during Wednesday’s match. - Andrew Grimm

STEUBENVILLE — The Big Red girls soccer team’s strong start keeps on rolling.

Led by another hattrick from senior standout and program scoring record holder Bailee Beall, Steubenville topped Catholic Central 4-0 Wednesday evening at the Tony Rencinella Soccer Field to push its record to 4-0.

In the four wins, Big Red has out-scored its opponents 21-1 and Wednesday was the third shutout in four games.

“We were a little slow to start the other night, so we wanted to come out stronger,” Big Red head coach Annie Cutri said. “When the girls connect, they really connect. Some of the our set ups in the second half were beautiful. They are really finding their momentum right now.

“They’re communicating well, and we’ve focused on that. It’s a different team every year with new players coming in and players graduating, so to have them talking and communicating is good to see early on.

“Kudos to Central, they have a phenomenal back line and goalie.”

Big Red opened a 2-0 lead in the first half and added two more in the second.

In addition to Beall’s three goals, Kenzy Petrelle also scored for the visitors and Lucy Saccoccia tallied two assists.

For Central head coach Jonathan Hoover, taking on a red-hot Big Red was something he knew would be a challenge for his team, and he saw some positives.

“They’re very well disciplined and they play their positions well,” Hoover said of Big Red. “We had trouble controlling the midfield and that hurt us on a couple of their goals.

“You have to play some teams that are better than you to see where you’re at, to see how you compare. We had a good showing Saturday at St. Clairsville, another bigger school, and wanted to follow it up. Big Red is a talented team and I thought we played well with them.”

Central keeper Aurie Hoover made nine saves to keep the Crusaders (2-1-1) in the game.

Big Red’s keepers again split time in net, Sadie Edwards making four saves and Jodeci Green making six.

UP NEXT

Big Red: Takes on Philo Monday at the River View Showcase.

Catholic Central: Hosts East Liverpool on Saturday.