THROW IN — Catholic Central’s Issac Stoutz throws the ball in during Tuesday’s tournament game. - Aaron Petchal

STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central boys’ soccer team got off to a slow start against Tuscarawas Valley, and the Trojans took full advantage as they scored two goals to take the lead.

Tusky Valley appeared to net a third goal in the first half, however, the goal was wiped away due to a foul giving the Crusaders new life. Catholic Central took advantage of the opportunity as the Crusaders scored a goal before halftime to make it a one-goal difference.

Trailing by one, the Blue and Gold pushed forward throughout the second half, however, things did not work out for the boys in blue. Catholic Central continued its attack in the second half, however, the Crusaders hit the post less than 10 minutes into the half before hitting the same one with less than 10 minutes to play in the match.

In between the hitting of the posts, the boys in white tallied an insurance goal as the third-seeded Trojans defeated the second-seeded Crusaders, 3-1, in an Ohio Division V Eastern District Semifinal Tuesday evening at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.

“Exactly, we got off to a slow start,” Catholic Central (8-9) head coach Steve Kopcha said. “They were more energized and more ready to play than we were. We were able to get a goal before halftime to make it 2-1, and I thought that would energize us. It seemed to get us more into the game. They are a quality team. We continued to push forward, but we were not able to score any more goals. We hit the post. They had some nice saves by their goalie, and that prevented us from scoring anymore goals.”

With the win, Tusky Valley will play in the district final at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at a site to be announced.

The momentum was on the side of Catholic Central early in the second half as the Crusaders pushed forward in hopes of netting the equalizer. The Crusaders nearly did just that, however, a shot bounced harmlessly off the post keeping the visitors from Tuscarawas County in the lead.

There is a difference playing when the match is tied as compared to when a team is down by a goal, especially in the second half.

“Exactly,” Kopcha said about the shot hitting the post making a difference in the match. “We were down one goal. We told them all we need is one shot – one good shot and we would be right back into it, but we hit the post and they had a couple nice saves by their keeper preventing us from tying the score.”

The Trojans survived the Crusaders’ assault, and the visitors finally found the back of the net for the third time to regain a two-goal advantage at 3-1.

Despite the deficit, Catholic Central continued to fight, but the hosts were unable to capitalize on another golden opportunity as a second shot hit the post with under 10 minutes left to play. Though things did not go their way, the Crusaders continued to battled as they took multiple shots. Unfortunately, they were unable to find the back of the net again and time ran out enabling the Trojans to celebrate the hard-fought victory.

“Despite the bounces not going the way we wanted today, we continued to play hard,” Kopcha said. “They are a quality opponent. They defended well. I am proud of our effort today.”

Gable Karrenbauer recorded the first goal of the match for the Trojans about three minutes in before Hayden Cox collected the second goal for the visitors about 11 minutes later to make it 2-0.

The Crusaders battled back when senior standout Santi Descalzo delivered a goal on a penalty kick with less than 15 minutes remaining to be played in the first half.

Junior Joseph Vranish made six saves in goal for the home team.

Tanner Wood delivered five saves for the winning team.

In the end, it proved to be a match between two pretty evenly matched teams.

“Definitely, without a doubt,” Kopcha said. “We were the two and three seeds, and it worked out that way. It proved to be a game between two pretty evenly matched the teams. The difference was they were able to score more goals than we did.”

The match was the final one for Catholic Central’s 10 seniors – Dylan Bucci, Nico Gonzalez, Malachy O’Neil, Connor Long, Josh Schweitzer, Brendan Kuebler, Eli Krivoniak, Zach Naploi and Descalzo.

“They were definitely a part of our growth this season,” Kopcha said about his seniors. “We had 10 seniors this season which is amazing number for us. We have not had that many in a long time. Some of them have been here for all four years, and some of them we added throughout that time. All 10 of them contributed to the team in some way. They all helped to lead us this season.”