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STEUBENVILLE -- The Steubenville boys soccer team has had plenty of success so far this season scoring off set pieces, and Big Red continued to add to the list of such goals against a talented St. Clairsville team.
Big Red delivered two goals in the first half and one more in the second -- with all three coming via set piece en route to a 3-0 victory against the offensively-potent Red Devils Thursday night on Reno Saccoccia Field inside Harding Stadium.
The victory was an historic one as it was win No. 250 for Big Red head coach Greg Bowers. Bowers is in his 22nd season as head coach at Big Red. Bowers has a career record of 250-107-43 at the school. Bowers has added his name to the OHSAA record book as 250 career wins are needed for your name to be added to the most wins coaching list.
“I want to thank all the boys past and present,” Bowers said. “I want to give a special thank you to my assistant coaches – Brian Timmons, Jared Robinson and JD Hayes.”
Big Red improved to 7-2-1 on the season with the win.
“It was a real-good win,” Bowers said. “Hats off to our defense. We saw the amount of goals St. Clairsville has been putting up all year, and for them to record a shutout, we are definitely proud of their effort.”
At times, Big Red’s best defense was their offense as the hosts came out and out pressure on St. Clairsville (6-4) from the start of the match.
“We were able to limit their throw-ins,” Bowers said. “We did a good job on defense, and we did a good job on offense keeping the ball up the field. We were able to limit their opportunities and their long throw-ins.”
That early pressure paid off in a big way for Steubenville as they found the back of the net a little more than two minutes into the contest. The visitors knocked the ball over the end line and out of bounds resulting in a corner kick. Chase Beall took the kick and sent the ball into the box where Joel Elliott was able to knock it into the net to give Big Red a 1-0 lead with 37:50 remaining to be played in the first half.
“We came out and put pressure on them right away,” Bowers said. “For the first 20 minutes, our pressure was exceptional. We came out, and we were able to score one early.”
The boys from Jefferson County nearly had a second goal off a corner less than two minutes later, but the shot was off target. Shortly thereafter, a missed chance in front of the goal led to another corner, however, the visitors were able to play their way out of danger once again.
“We practice them,” Bowers said. “We work on them. We have guys who are hungry. We push guys forward, and we are able to create opportunities.”
The visitors would not be so fortunate later on as Beall tallied a goal straight off his own corner kick to extend Big Red’s advantage to 2-0 with 22:53 left to play in the first half.
“We have a couple of guys who can put the ball into the box,” Bowers said. “That is always a good thing to have.”
Another corner led to another Steubenville shot, however, St. Clairsville goalie Keenan White was able to make the save with 16:45 still to play in the half to keep his team in the match. Later on, a Big Red shot was cleared away off the line following another corner kick.
Big Red led 2-0 as the stadium horn sounded ending the first half of play.
The boys in white came out strong to start the second half as the Red Devils mounted an offensive charge of their own.
The Red Devils had an opportunity 15 minutes into the second half off one of their corners, but the shot hit off the goal keeping Big Red in front by two goals. St. Clairsville had another opportunity slip away on a save just shy of the midway point in the half.
“They were able to string some passes together,” Bowers said. “We got a little sloppy. We were giving up too much space. They definitely did a good job.”
Big Red was able to turn the tide back their way as the home team got a shot off from the far side off the field, however, White was in position to make the save with 17:36 left to play. Later, White turned away a shot by Landon Bowers with 14:20 remaining to be played keeping St. Clairsville within striking distance.
That, however, would change as Landon Bowers scored on a penalty kick to seal the deal as the goal increased Big Red’s advantage to 3-0 with 8:33 still showing on the scoreboard clock.
“They did a nice job of bottling Landon up,” Bowers said. “They had three of four guys on him all game. He got that penalty kick, and he was able to take advantage of it.”
Big Red was able to prevent a late St. Clairsville push as they were able to secure their sixth shutout this season. Big Red goalie JJ Lamantia made three saves in goal on his way to the shutout.
White tallied 11 saves in goal for St. Clairsville.
The game was the final one for both teams as Thursday was the cutoff date for teams to qualify for the annual OVAC Tournament. According to the OVAC website, the final standings were to be released late Thursday night.
“It’s going quick,” Coach Bowers said about the season.
Big Red entered place in Class 5A behind Beaver Local and Wheeling Park. Meanwhile, St. Clairsville started off the week in second place in Class 4A behind Union Local.
“We think we still fall to No. 3,” Bowers said. “We are going to have to say how the points fall with Wheeling Park and Beaver Local. We should find out Friday who we are going to play. We ae going to be third and John Marshall is going to be fourth.”
In the tournament, the semifinals will be played Tuesday at the high seeded team’s field with the consolation game being played Thursday. The finals will be held Sept. 26 at three different locations.
The Class 5A Final will be held at 12:30 p.m. down at St. Clairsville’s Red Devil Stadium.
“We would like to have a little more depth,” Bowers said. “We are excited about where we are at. We just want to keep working and continue to get better.”
Big Red and Beaver Local played to a 4-4 tie last Thursday up at Beaver Local before Big Red returned to the pitch Saturday and shut out John Marshall, 8-0. Wheeling Park rallied to defeat Big Red, 2-1, Tuesday night at Harding Stadium.
The Class 4A Final is set for 12:30 p.m. Saturday up at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
The Class 1A-3A Final will be held at 12:30 p.m. down at Wheeling Island Stadium.