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STEUBENVILLE – It certainly wasn’t easy, but the Big Red girls’ soccer team found a way to get the job done against Oak Glen.
The game was scoreless for nearly 70 minutes before Big Red delivered a pair of goals less than five minutes apart before holding on and defeating the Golden Bears, 2-1, Tuesday night on Reno Saccoccia Field inside historic Harding Stadium.
“Our gameplan was to drive and shoot,” Big Red (7-6-2) head coach Annie Cutri said. “I don’t know. I don’t know why we didn’t shoot. The soccer gods were not on our side tonight.
“The girls did not give up. They were resilient. Oak Glen clogged the middle. There was chaos in the middle. We had to play the ball wide. There was chaos in the middle.”
After falling behind by two goals, the girls from Hancock County netted a goal a little more than four minutes later to draw within a goal, however, the visitors were unable to find the equalizer before time expired.
“To start the game off, our second best player was fouled in the box,” Oak Glen (11-6) head coach Bill Watts said. “She got hurt, and she was taken out of the game. When she got hurt, that limited what we were able to do on offense. We are young. We had to have girls in new positions. When you lose one of your top players early in the game, it is tough. I usually don’t say anything about the officiating, but they affected the game, for sure.
“We made two mistakes in the back. The girls played really hard. We had girls in new positions they have not played before. Big Red was able to capitalize on our mistakes. We were not able to capitalize on theirs.”
Senior standout Gianna Thomas netted a goal and an assist to lead the way offensively for the Red-and-Black, while sophomore Brynn Bowers recorded a goal.
Junior Jodeci Green made 10 saves in goal for the victors.
Freshman Bailey Watts tallied the lone goal of the game for the visitors. Senior Angelina Polly produced the assist.
Senior Camryn Richards made some key saves in goal throughout the night for the Golden Bears. Richards ended the night with 12 saves.
Big Red was able to possess the ball for a good bit in each half, but the girls from Jefferson County were not able to break through Richards and the Oak Glen defense.
“We expected them to play five in the back,” Cutri said. “They play solid defense.”
Steubenville was finally able to crack the code as Thomas scored a goal at the near post on a long-distance shot giving Big Red a 1-0 lead with 10:02 remaining to be played.
Then, Bowers tacked on an insurance goal after a cross from Thomas to increase Big Red’s advantage to 2-0 with 5:53 left to play.
The Golden Bears scored a long-distance goal of their own as Bailey Watts launched a shot over Green’s head and into the back of the net to pull her team to within, 2-1, with 1:42 still showing on the scoreboard clock.
Oak Glen attempted to score again, however, Big Red was able to successfully kill the clock ending the game.
“We have two girls with around 30 goals each,” Coach Watts said. “When you take one of those girls out in the first 10 minutes, it makes it tough. We had girls playing up top who haven’t scored a goal. When you lose one of your best players, it is tough. Injuries have put us in a bad spot. We played a lot of defense.”
The victory enabled Big Red to once again get over the .500 mark on the season.
“The girls pulled through,” Cutri said. “The girls were locked in.”
Oak Glen is scheduled to play Wheeling Central at 6 p.m. Thursday night on the road.
Big Red is slated to play John Glen at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon on the road.