Red Riders make it two wins against St. C in less than a week
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WEIRTON -- In a battle of two of the best teams in the Ohio Valley, the Weir boys soccer team once again got the better of St. Clairsville.
The Red Riders scored 27 seconds into the match against the Red Devils, and Weir parlayed a strong first half into a 3-1 victory Thursday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
“I talked to their coach before the game, and I was worried about this game,” Weir (12-0-2) head coach Matt Kopp said. “I was worried about how they would play. I figured they would really want this one after what happened Saturday. I was wrong. I am proud of the way we came out and played.”
Weir - the No. 1 seed - defeated No. 2 seed St. Clairsville, 3-1, in the OVAC Class 4A Tournament Final Saturday afternoon down at Red Devil Stadium.
“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” St. Clairsville (10-3) head coach Jeff Roberts said. “We had a tough first half. They outplayed us all over the field. They have an incredible team.
Antonio Pittman tallied two goals in the match for Weir, while Jacob Morgan recorded a goal and two assists to help the Red Riders’ cause. Luiz Bastos also collected an assist for the victors.
John Wansack made four saves in goal for the home team.
“We don’t have a loss,” Kopp said. “I am proud of the boys. Michael Iafrate and Jacob Morgan controlled the middle of the field as they have all year. We are very strong right now. We have some tough games coming up. We play Morgantown, Wheeling Park and Wheeling Central. Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence right now. They think they can take on anybody right now. We are going to be heard to beat right now.”
Nate Thornberg recorded the lone goal of the game for the Red Devils off an assist by Caden Stout.
Brandon Kravlovic made six saves in goal for the visitors.
“I want to wish good luck St. Clairsville in the rest of their season,” Kopp said. “I hope they dominate in the postseason in Ohio like they have been doing. I think both of us can really go far this season.
Morgan opened the scoring with his goal coming with 39:33 left in the first half to give the Red Riders a 1-0 lead.
“That’s a captain leading by example,” Kopp said. “He took the ball off one of their players, beat two guys and then put it away. That was a great way to start the game.”
The score remained 1-0 for more than 31 minutes before Pittman netted his first goal to give Weir a 2-0 lead with 7:54 remaining to be played in the first half.
“They changed some things,” Roberts said. “No. 16 (Mattia Molendi) played defense, and they put more speed up top in the first half, and it paid off for them in the first half.
“We played better in the second half. We played together as a team. We started playing the ball on the ground. We were able to possess the ball. That is our bread and butter. We are able to pass the ball, and we were able to possess it.”
St. Clairsville finally got on the scoreboard when Thornburg scored to pull the boys from Belmont County to within 2-1 with 12:54 still showing on the scoreboard clock.
“We changed a lot,” Kopp said. “They have a smart coach. We changed our center back and two of our strikers. We swapped them throughout the game. We also had two starters out.”
After St. Clairsville scored and pulled to within a goal, Pittman answered and delivered an insurance goal for Weir to put the match out of reach.
“It is a little unexpected,” Kopp said about his team’s unbeaten start to the season. “I’m happy. We are playing well. This game would have been easy to lose with everything going on. We had two starters out, but our kids fought. They really wanted this one. They want everything they can get.
“The players thought we could be here. They had that mindset. You don’t want to overreact. Once our roster came together, and how we were playing the first couple of weeks of the season, yes, I believed we could here at this point. As far as the preseason goes, no. Based on last year, no.
“We are all juniors and seniors. We have on sophomore starting. Well, we had two today due to two kids being out with different things.”
For his performance in the match, Pittman, who is a sophomore, was once again named Man of the Match for Weir. Pittman also took home the honor following his two goals in his team’s win against St. Clairsville in the OVAC Final.
“Pittman was Man of the Match for the second straight game,” Kopp said. “He scored two goals tonight, and he scored two goals in the OVAC Final. He is one of our most dangerous players.
Weir is scheduled to play Tyler Consolidated at 11 a.m. Saturday at home. It will be a varsity-only match.
“We are second in the state in Class AA,” Kopp said. “We are second behind Point Pleasant, who is unreal. In the top 10, there are four teams from our region. We are second, Fairmont Senior is fifth, Wheeling Central is eighth and Trinity Christian is 10th. Three of those teams in the top are in the same (our) section.”
St. Clairsville is slated to play Cambridge at 6 p.m. Tuesday on the road.
“They are having a great year as well,” Roberts said. “It should be a great matchup.”