STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central boys’ soccer team won the one that mattered the most.

Trinity Christian shut out Catholic Central in the first meeting on the pitch, however, Santi Descalzo tallied a goal in each half to lift the No. 3 seed Crusaders to a 2-0 victory against the third-seeded Warriors in an OVAC Class 1A-3A Semifinal Thursday evening on the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.

“It is definitely a big win against a quality opponent,” Catholic Central (7-4) head coach Steve Kopcha said. “Every time we play them, it’s good competition and a good game. To get a win against a team like that, it make it more special.”

With the win, Catholic Central will take on top-seed Wheeling Central in the tournament final at 2 p.m. Saturday down at Red Devil Stadium in St. Clairsville. Wheeling Central advanced to the final by defeating No. 4 seed Wood County Christian in overtime Thursday night at home. The Maroon Knights defeated the Crusaders, 1-0, Sept. 10 at home.

“We’re expecting another tough game,” Kopcha said. “Hopefully, we give another good effort. We’re going to need an effort better that one we gave today. We are going to play our best game of the year to come away with a victory.”

Descalzo delivered his first goal of the match midway through the first half. The senior standout then collected an insurance goal with about six minutes to give the Crusaders some much needed breathing room.

Connor Long and Brendan Kuebler assisted on the goals.

Joe Vranish made eight saves in goal en route to the shutout.

“Joe has played better throughout the year,” Kopcha said. “He comes up with some really big saves when we need them. Him and the defense did a great job today to keep them off the scoreboard.”

Trinity’s goalie made nine saves, and a defender saved a goal by kicking the ball out from in front of the goal in the second half.

The Warriors defeated the Crusaders, 1-0, Aug. 26 on the road.

“It was whether we could score first,” Kopcha said. “That is something we were really harping on. We wanted to try and score first. We know they are a strong fundamental team on defense. We wanted to score that first goal to hopefully get them out of that shell they were in. We hoped it would spread things out and open some things up. I don’t know if it worked. We were able to score that first goal and that made a big difference for us. We scored that very first goal, and it was a big help for us.”

The Crusaders, Maroon Knights and Warriors (6-5) are all familiar with each other.

“Both of them are quality teams,” Kopcha said. “We know coming into the tournament Trinity, Wheeling Central and us are going to be there. All three of us are going to battle it out. We are going to have to go through each other.”