St. C continues record season with win at Brooke
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WELLSBURG - To say the senior members of the St. Clairsville girls' soccer team have had good careers would not be doing them any justice. They've had an excellent four years.
With Thursday night's 11-1 domination of Brooke on Paul "Bud" Billiard Field inside Brooke Memorial Stadium, the state-ranked Red Devils set one program record and equaled another in concluding their regular season at 15-2. The victory total is a single-season mark, bettering 14 set in 2021 and 2024. The win was also the seniors 47th, tying them with the 2017-2021 team, and their 10th straight since their lone back-to-back setbacks, both coming by one goal, midway through the season.
"This group of kids have been great," St. Clairsville veteran head coach Wes Stoner said. "We don't have a weak spot. We're deep and have several girls who can come off the bench and we don't lose anything on defense or offense. We’ve got a lot of talent everywhere."
Of the eight seniors, seven are starters and a like number have been mainstays since their freshmen campaign.
"This senior class is really talented," Stoner noted. "I've said it many times that we're going to miss them next year, but I don't want to look that far forward because I think we've got a lot of soccer left this season."
Those seniors include Ashlynn Lednik, Emma Gasber, Isabelle Morgan, Kaylee Shafer, Isabella Cunningham, Kiya Kyer and Abby Brocklehurst. The eighth senior - Addie Mobley - transferred in this school year.
"We moved the ball well. Our goal tonight was to get ready for the playoffs," Stoner said. "We wanted to move the ball as much as we could and get some good shots on goal. We tried a couple of different formations early on to see how it looked and to get them used to where they might play during certain situations in the playoffs.
"It was a great night. Everyone played well."
Seven different St. Clairsville players recorded at least one goal, with Gasber notching a hat trick. Lednik added a pair of net-finders and an assist, while freshman Felicity Morgan also found the back of the net twice and helped on another.
"I love it. That's the best thing possible. I like getting everyone involved and everyone can finish," he stressed. "I think we've got five girls with 10-or-more goals this year."
The match was halted in the 63rd minute when Lednik's blast found its way into the back of the net.
Junior Elizabeth Morgan and freshman Molly Schultz each had a goal and two assists. Shafer and Kyer - the St. Clairsville standout goalkeeper - also scored goals, with Kyer's first career tally coming on a penalty kick. Freshman Reagan Gaiser logged two helpers and classmate Shekinah Palmer had one assist.
"I told her she better not miss or she was going to have to sprint the length of the field to get back in goal," Stoner joked. "But she buried it. She does that in practice all the time. I don't know if I've ever seen her miss.
Brooke (3-11-1), which only mustered two shots on goal, avoided being blanked when senior Adalynne Welsh lobbed a shot from 20 yards out into the top right corner, spoiling Kyer's bid for her eighth shutout of the year and 34th in her sparkling career between the posts.
While the Bruins host North Marion on Saturday, the Red Devils, who are 13th in the latest Ohio High School Soccer Association Division IV rankings, await their postseason fate as the sectional tournament draw is set for Sunday. The single-elimination event begins on Oct. 19.
MATCH NOTES
• St. Clairsville wore Pink and Black colored uniforms and Brooke donned Purple and Yellow attire for Cancer Awareness Month.
• The win for Stoner was his 140th.