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Steubenville blanks Creek

STEUBENVILLE – Steubenville controlled the ball and the match.

The Big Red boys’ soccer team netted two goals in each half en route to a 4-0 victory over Jefferson County rival Indian Creek Tuesday evening at Harding Stadium.

“We are working hard on possession at practice,” Big Red (2-1-1) head coach Greg Bowers said. “We did a good job of controlling the ball and the game today. We still have to improve on our last touches on the offensive end of the field, but we like the progress we are making.”

Big Red outshot the Redskins, 26-5. Big Red took 18 shots on goal, while three of the Redskins’ shots were on target.

“They outran us,” first-year Indian Creek (1-3) head coach Joe Lewis said. “They were quicker than us, and they wanted it more.

“They were far more aggressive. When they attacked, the whole team played up. When they played defense, the whole team played defense.”

Jorge Dominguez led the way offensively for Big Red with two goals and an assist. Federico Torres and Phil Stoutz each scored goals for the hosts, while Codey Criss and Adam DiCarlo collected assists.

Goalie Tyler Clevenger recorded three saves for the victors, while Zack Barker made 14 saves for the Redskins.

The game was scoreless for more than 15 minutes before Big Red opened the scoring.

Criss crossed the ball across the field to Dominguez who knocked the ball into the net to give Big Red a 1-0 lead with 24:31 left to play in the first half.

Big Red extended its lead to two goals almost 12 minutes later when Torres scored with 12:41 showing on the scoreboard clock.

“I saw them play against Weir,” Lewis said. “We knew they liked to be aggressive. They showed that again today.”

Big Red scored two goals less than four minutes into the second half to break the game open. Dominguez scored his second goal of the game to give the Red-and-Black a 3-0 lead just 42 seconds into the second half. Then, Stoutz scored off of a corner kick by Dominguez to give Big Red a four-goal advantage with 37:57 left to play in the match.

The Big Red defense has only allowed one goal in the last three games, and Big Red has outscored its opposition, 13-3, this season.

“We have some new pieces back there,” Bowers said. “Mark (Porter) and Nate (Kurty) have been our anchors so far this season.”

Indian Creek took 24 goal kicks, while Big Red took just three. Big Red took 11 corner kicks, while the Redskins did not take one.

“We were looking to attack down the middle, but we never had possession of the ball,” Lewis said. “We didn’t possess the ball, and we did not pass the ball well.”

The Big Red defense kept Max Lewis and the Indian Creek defense at bay for the majority of the contest.

“Max is a great player,” Bowers said. “We had a game plan going in. We wanted to box him in. Our defense did a good job.”

Both teams are scheduled to play Saturday on the road.

Indian Creek will play at 11 a.m. at Tuscarawas Valley.

“We are starting to show improvement,” coach Lewis said. “Some of our players are not in their final roles. Some of our players who came in off of the bench were aggressive. There may be some starts in the future for them.”

Big Red will play at noon at Cambridge.

“They still have the Fox kid,” Bowers said. “He is a lot like Max. We are going to use the same game plan to try and stop him like we did with Max.”

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