BATTLING — Catholic Central’s Aurelia Hoover, Corinne Lee and Delaney Dankert pursue John Marshall’s McKenna Schlard and the ball during Wednesday’s game. - Kim North

MOUNDSVILLE — If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. It’s often said and for good reason, especially when it comes to athletics.

Wednesday night on the artificial pitch inside Monarch Stadium, Steubenville Catholic put on a shooting clinic in its girls’ soccer match with host John Marshall. The Crusaders (2-0) fired 42 shots at a pair of Monarch goalkeepers, with 10 of them finding the cage. The match was halted early in the 76th minute due to the WVSSAC mercy rule.

“Their two goalies did a great job in the first half, especially the second one. She made some really good saves,” Steubenville Catholic head coach Jonathan Hoover said. “I told the girls at halftime that we need to start putting the ball where she isn’t. She still made some amazing saves, but we were able to find the back of the net pretty often.”

As if the 10-0 final score wasn’t enough, Catholic Central held John Marshall to zero shots on goal. In fact, the Monarchs only possessed the ball across midfield four times and never threatened to score.

“I told my assistant (coach) that all we need is one piece to help out our midfielders. If we don’t find that missing piece, it’s going to be a long season for us,” veteran John Marshall head coach Jesus Marin assessed. “We’ll definitely start working on solving that problem.”

Crusader junior goalkeeper Aurelia Hoover was the loneliest player on the field. She wasn’t called upon to make a single save.

“We’ve been working hard on our defense,” Hoover allowed. “We did a good job of keeping our shape and our formation. We did a good job of finding our mids and did a good job of changing possession of the ball. We did a better job of that in the second half.”

Nine of the net-finders came in the second half after Catholic Central held a slim 1-0 advantage after 40 minutes as the goaltending tandem of Caylee Deem and Emery Kordack teamed for 17 saves, some acrobatic in nature. Kordack relieved Deem who injured her right hand in the 14th minute. She stopped all four shots she faced, and did not return.

“I was very pleased with how we played in the first half,” Marin said. “When Caylee went down, Emery stepped in and had an outstanding first half. I was very pleased with how she played.

“In the second half, this was the first time we have stepped foot on this field,” Marin noted. “We’ve been practicing on the grass field behind the school. We had a lot of girls start cramping up in the second half due to the field being a lot warmer than the grass surface.”

But he didn’t use that as an excuse.

“They are a very good passing team and we spent a lot of time chasing the ball instead of possessing it,” he added.

Senior Isabelle Lee led the Crusaders with four goals. Sophomore Zoe Wise found the net twice, while Aurelia Hoover, sophomore Lily Krivoniak and senior Lynn Cai all scored once each. Junior Gigi Rook was credited with the lone assist.

The Crusaders have now scored 21 goals in two games after defeating Edison 11-1 earlier in the week.