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STEUBENVILLE – Youth was served for the Catholic Central boys’ soccer team in its match against Heartland Christian.
Catholic Central netted one goal in each half en route to a 2-0 victory against Heartland Wednesday evening down at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.
The Crusaders led the Lions 1-0 in the second half before freshman Gus Symington netted an insurance goal giving the Blue-and-Gold a two-goal advantage with about 10 minutes left to play.
“That was a big second goal,” Catholic Central (1-1-1) head coach Steve Kopcha said. “We told the guys at halftime that one goal is not enough. The game was too close. We wanted to come out and extend the lead in the second half. We wanted to score. We wanted to push for more. That second goal gave us a little bit of relief.”
Trailing by two goals, the visitors from Columbiana County went on the offense, however, the Lions were unable to find the back of the net as Catholic Central goalie Joseph Vranish made a couple of key saves to keep the team in the white jerseys off the scoreboard.
“Both teams played really well,” first-year Heartland Christian head coach Dominic Mariano said. “Both teams played tough. I am proud of our team. It is good for us to play Steubenville. They are a good team. They show us what we need to work on.”
Sophomore Joey Rook recorded the first goal of the game with about six minutes left in the first half to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The victors took 16 shots on goal, while the visitors tallied five.
“We were able to maintain possession,” Kopcha said. “We were able to control the ball. We did a much better job of keeping possession than we did in our previous two games. Keeping possession of the ball is something we are going to continue to work on throughout the season. We want to maintain possession, and we want to keep control of the ball.”
Javier Descalzo and Isaac Stoutz each collected an assist for the hosts.
Senior Ryan Coy made 14 saves in goal for Heartland Christian. Vranish finished with five saves for the home team.
“I am proud of our team for not giving up,” Mariano said. “We were down 2-0, and we continued to fight hard. The game was not over yet. What I am most proud of is we pushed through the difficulties and the challenges. We got after it.”
The Lions beat the Crusaders, 2-1, last season at home.
“They are a small school like us,” Kopcha said. “They have smaller roster, but they are a talented team. They beat us last year. It has been back-and-forth between us the past couple of years.”
Heartland Christian opened the season with a 4-1 loss to Memorial Saturday morning at home.
Catholic Central opened the season by playing local foe Harrison Central to a 1-1 tie Friday night out at Wagner Field before losing to St. Clairsville, 7-1, Monday night down at Red Devil Stadium.
“It is definitely nice to get our first win of the season,” Kopcha said. “This win will help us gain confidence. We want to keep getting better. We want to get another one the next time we step out onto the field.”
Heartland Christian is set to play Brookfield at 5:30 p.m. Monday at home.
Catholic Central is scheduled to play Weir at 6 p.m. Monday at home.