MILESTONE REACHED — Big Red’s Bailee Beall takes a corner kick during Thursday’s match against Weir High. Beall scored her 100th career goal in the game. - Aaron Petchal

STEUBENVILLE — One hundred goals and counting.

Big Red senior standout Bailee Beall tallied the 100th goal of her illustrious career with 10:25 left in the match against Weir High to salvage a 1-1 tie in girls’ soccer action Thursday night on Reno Saccoccia Field inside Harding Stadium.

“It has taken a lot of effort and a lot of leadership on her part,” Big Red (10-2-2) head coach Annie Cutri said. “She has scored 100 goals, but she is unselfish. She has assists. She does not have as many assists, but she does have quite a few assists. She works diligently. Soccer is her passion. It is her sport. She deserves it.”

Beall is known for having a strong leg, and she showed that off on her historic goal as it was the latest in along of goals from long distance in her career.

“Eventually, she is going to get a good look,” Weir (4-7-3) head coach Jeremy Angelo said. “She got one, and she placed it in the upper corner. If Kylie was three or four inches taller, she would have saved that. I told her not to get down. She scored on a good goal. That is going to happen.”

Beall is the all-time leading scorer in program history. She broke the school record for most career goals in a 6-1 victory against Oak Glen Aug. 21 on the road. Mary Marshall was the previous record holder.

“Bailee was in my seventh grade class,” Cutri said. “I could tell she was hungry for soccer. I knew she could be a really good player. It was just up to her. She loves the game. Fortunately, it has worked out for her, but our season is not over. She is not going to quit. She is going to keep going from here.”

During his head coaching tenures at Edison and now at Weir, Angelo has coached and coached against some really good players throughout the years.

“I have never coached a girl in high school who has scored 100 goals,” Angelo said. “I am happy for Coach Cutri. I am happy for Bailee. She is a good player. She has been a pain in our butt the last two or three years. You always want to see local kids accomplish good things. They’re not your mortal enemy. You don’t hate them. You enjoy going out and competing against them. She has competed.”

The match was scoreless for more than 38 minutes before the Red Riders found the back of the net with 1:29 left to play in the first half.

“It was on a corner,” Angelo said. “We have been working on corners all week. We set up. The ball hit off a couple of people, and TK was able to kick it in. It was the first goal of her career. This is her first year of playing soccer. Now, she may come back for one more year.”

Takayla Jones – a junior – capitalized on the loose ball to give the girls from Hancock County a 1-0 lead. The girls in white carried that lead into halftime and the a good bit of the second half.

“When you have new girls and they listen and you tell them where to go and they go and they get rewarded, it is great,” Angelo said. “The kids were all happy for her. She works hard. She does her best. When you have only played for two months, it is tough to be an integral part of everything, but she does a good job.”

Both teams used two goalies with Weir switching between them in each half.

For the visitors, Kylie Dunmeyer, who started and ended the match in goal, made seven saves on the night, while her replacement – Rachel Lazear – recorded three.

Sadie Edwards started in goal for Big Red, and she ended up with two saves in the first half before being replaced to the start second half by Jodeci Green. Green made one save in the second half.

Big Red outshot Weir, but the hosts did not have a lot to show for it.

“Very much so, it was a battle,” Cutri said. “Weir outplayed us. They were more physical. They got to the ball first. They won the ball. They won the ball in the air. In the second half, we tried to turn things around a little bit. Nos. 4 (Kaelyn Engle), 10 (Elliana Noel) and 7 (Brynn Artman) are really solid players for Weir. We did not apply pressure on them, and when you don’t apply pressure, you are not going to have success.

“In the first half, we had some shots. If we were able to get more of those on target, it would have helped. Our girls came back from being down 1-0. I am proud of them for that.

“Jeremy always has a disciplined squad. It is always a battle whenever we play Weir.”

The Red Riders had some chances to extend their advantage in the second half, but Weir was unable to capitalize on its opportunities.

“Considering our starting keeper is out with a concussion and our halfback/forward tore ligaments Saturday at practice and we are now down to 13 and Maddy kept running around and cramping up, we battled,” Angelo said. “We came out and played defense. We also played offense. We had opportunities, and they had opportunities. We came to play. We passed the ball.

“Neither team fully bullied the other team. It was physical, but it was not dirty. Sometimes, players get there a little late, and sometimes players get there a little early. We gave a great effort from beginning to end. I am proud of everyone today.

“Kylie and Rachel combined to make 10 or 11 saves and only allowed one goal against a really good team.”

Weir and Big Red are scheduled to take part in the 14th Annual Together We Care Soccer Benefit for Cancer Patients Saturday at Harding. Weir is slated to play Edison at 8 a.m. in the first match of the day, while Big Red will take on Indian Creek at 2 p.m. in the fourth match.

The other matches feature the Catholic Central girls taking on Harrison Central at 10 a.m., the Edison boys playing Harrison Central at noon and finally the Big Red boys will face city-rival Catholic Central at 4 p.m.