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WELLSBURG – The Brooke boys’ soccer team controlled its match against Indian Creek from the outset.
The Bruins scored an early goal and did not look back en route to a 9-0 victory against the Redskins via mercy rule on Senior Night Tuesday night on Paul “Bud” Billiard Field inside historic Brooke Memorial Stadium.
“We have been working hard on our 1-2 touches and passes,” Brooke (5-11-2) head coach Joe Pepe said. “We did well tonight. We have more games before the state playoffs.”
After playing a partial JV schedule last season, Indian Creek (0-13-1) is in its first full season back at the varsity level.
“It is nice to have them back on the schedule,” Pepe said. “We are in the Buckeye 8 now, and we have to play all of the Ohio teams in the Buckeye 8. It is good to have them back. I hate to see anyone lose a program for a couple of years. They had a good program. I have been doing this a long time. I remember when Wintersville had a soccer program. I’m glad they have a program again.
“Those guys are doing a great job. Their kids played hard. They did not quit. They played hard until the end of the game.
“Our kids played extremely well. I am proud of all of them.”
Senior Jacob Johnson netted four goals while contributing two assists to lead the way offensively for the Green-and-Gold, while classmate Jacob High tallied a hat trick and two assists. Also, Jaxson Johnson chipped in with a goal and two assists, and Cooper Willey produced a goal.
Bronson Pack made three saves in goal for the boys in green.
Indian Creek used two goalies. Crue Roe started in goal, and he was replaced in the second half by Joe Diggs. The pair combined to make six saves.
The boys from Brooke County collected three goals in the first half to take a three-goal lead into halftime before erupting for six more in the second half. The hosts’ sixth goal brought the running clock into play.
Brooke has six seniors – Kai Bowers, Luca Provenzano, Giacomo Dall’omo, Elijah Sparks, Jacob Johnson and High.
“I wanted to get all the seniors into the game,” Pepe said. “I wanted them all to play until the end. We are going to miss the seniors. We still have two regular season games left. We play Monroe Central Thursday in our Cancer Awareness game, and then we play at East Liverpool Saturday.
“We are starting to turn things around. We had a rough year last year. We had a down year. That is going to happen. We had a couple of down years. We won an OVAC title in 2020. We won a sectional title against teams like Wheeling Park and Morgantown. We have had a couple down years, but that is going to happen. We have also had some good years.
“We are still in a rebuilding time. I am proud of all of the kids. They all did extremely well. They did a very-good job. I can’t complain about any of them.”
Brooke is scheduled to take on Monroe Central at 6 p.m. Thursday night at home.
Indian Creek is slated to play West Muskingum in an Ohio Division IV Eastern District Sectional Co-Final at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night on the road. The Tornadoes are the No. 1 seed, while the Redskins are the No. 15 seed. The two teams are on the East 1 side of the bracket.