Trending
STEUBENVILLE -- The Big Red boys' soccer team answered the bell.
Wheeling Park landed the first shot of the game as the Patriots scored eight seconds into the match. Big Red got up, dusted itself off and countered with its first big shot of the game 33 seconds later to even the score.
The Patriots scored again to regain the lead a little more than six minutes later, but Big Red responded with four straight goals to pull away for a 5-3 victory Tuesday night on Reno Saccoccia Field inside Harding Stadium.
"That was huge," Big Red (7-1-1) head coach Greg Bowers said about his team answering Wheeling Park's early goal with one of its own. "Wheeling Park is a great team, and for us to answer with a goal quickly after that was key. We were able to settle in.
"JP responded well. He did not let that shot bother him. He made some great saves throughout the night."
Matt Loot tallied a hat trick in the first half as Big Red led 4-2 at the break.
"I don't have much to say," Wheeling Park (7-2-3) head coach Mario Julian said. "The kids did not play well. We made mistakes. We are going to learn from this.
"We are going to work on things at practice. We are going to work hard and try to get better. We know what we want to do and where we want to go this season."
Big Red scored the first goal of the second half to build a three-goal advantage.
"I did not expect a 5-3 game," Bowers said. "We have been scoring a lot of goals so far this season. We have had multiple guys score goals all season. We have a lot of guys who can finish and score goals."
Wheeling Park kicked off to start the game, and after receiving a pass from Sam Rockey, Brody Wall launched a 55-yard shot over JP Walsh's head and into the goal to give the boys from Ohio County an early 1-0 lead.
Loot collected his first goal of the night 41 seconds into the match to knot the score at 1.
The visitors responded and Wilson Hanna scored off an assist by Manual Juanez to regain the lead for the Patriots 6 minutes and 15 seconds later.
The Patriots held the lead longer this time, however, Big Red responded with two goals less than a minute apart to take the lead for good.
First, Ethan Stimpert found the back of the net to deadlock the game at 2-all, and then Loot delivered his second goal of the night to give the boys from Jefferson County a 3-2 lead with 22:16 remaining to be played in the first half.
Loot capped the scoring in the first half with his third goal – this one coming on a penalty kick – increasing Big Red's advantage to 4-2 with 8:54 left to play before halftime.
Aidan Morales opened the scoring in the second half to extend Big Red's advantage to 5-2.
"We both play with three in the back," Bowers said. "We both have five guys in the middle of the field.
"They played a little long ball tonight than they have in the past. Normally, they play a lot of possession. Our guys in the back did an excellent job of handling those long balls."
Tresz McLeod capped the scoring when he found the back of the net with 16:05 still showing on the scoreboard clock.
"His speed makes him so tough to defend," Bowers said. "He is a great athlete. You have to account for him. Hayden (Hicks), Brady (Dinovo) and Martie (Lovato) were up to the challenge tonight. I could not ask for anything more from those guys. I'm really proud of them."
Mike Blanton assisted on McLeod's goal.
Cole Bowers recorded two assists for the victors, Anthony Vendetti, Hayden Hicks and Mason Montgomery all tallied one assist.
"It is a big win," Bowers said. "We expected it. This team has been playing well. We played well for 80 minutes, and we got the result."
Walsh finished the match with 10 saves in goal for Big Red.
Gavin Border recorded three saves for Wheeling Park.
Throughout the years, Wheeling Park has had the better of the series against Big Red, so anytime Big Red comes away with a win against the Patriots its a big win.
This win was more important than a normal regular season win as it locked up Big Red's first place finish in the OVAC Class 5A standings heading into the OVAC Tournament.
"That was our goal at the beginning of the season," Bowers said about winning the Class 5A regular season title. "We have been able to get results this season.
"We are coming off a stretch where we played Linsly, St. Clairsville, Weir and Dover. We were able to go 2-1-1 during that stretch. That was a good result for us against quality competition."
Big Red entered the match in the top spot, while Wheeling Park was in second place.
"This game was going to determine who was going to win it, and who was going to come in second," Bowers said.
Marietta is third in the standings, but the Tigers will not be participating in the tournament giving the third spot to Brooke. The top six teams in Class 5A will qualify for the tournament.
Thursday is the cutoff day for teams to qualify for the annual tournament. The tournament is scheduled to get underway Monday.
"It is a great accomplishment, but now we have to finish the job," Bowers said. "Now, we have the tournament to prepare for. We get to host a game, and if we win that one we will be playing for the championship. We are just taking things one game at a time."
The match was the final for Big Red and Wheeling Park before the cutoff.
Both teams are scheduled to return to the pitch at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road.
Big Red is slated to play Tusky Valley, while Wheeling Park will face off against Woodrow Wilson.
VOLLEYBALL
Park Sweeps Tri
SHINNSTON -- Wheeling Park swept a triangular at Lincoln Tuesday, defeating the hosts 25-5 and 25-18 and North Marion 25-13 and 25-15.
Olivia Albrecht led the Patriots with 22 kills while Jillian Huffman had 28 assists, four aces and a block. Lexi Irwin recorded eight aces and four digs.
Park improves to 11-8 on the season and will host a tri with Brooke and Parkersburg on Thursday.
Magnolia Tops Tyler
NEW MARTINSVILLE -- The homesteading Blue Eagles logged a sweep of visiting Tyler Tuesday, winning 25-23, 25-13 and 25-18.
Lauren Gaiser, Jenna Blain and Delaine Potteweit all had 10 kills for the victors. Blain added in eight digs while Sydney Knight supplied 36 assists and two aces. Julia Lilze racked up 15 digs and a couple of aces of her own.
Braden Wall had seven kills, eight digs and a block for Tyler. Caitlyn Northcraft supplied 14 assists, two digs, three blocks and two aces. Bella Garuccio recorded four blocks and Tanley McEldowney had six digs.
Central Sweeps Ferry
MARTINS FERRY -- Wheeling Central recorded a sweep of the homesteading Purple Riders by scores of 25-15, 25-20 and 25-20.
Nicole Reasbeck led the Maroon Knights with 17 kills and 13 digs while also recording two aces and two blocks.
Kamy Conners posted 13 kills and 19 digs with four aces, Lainey Peters had 15 assists and Alexis Hood had 16 helpers with eight digs.
Bellaire sweeps River
HANNIBAL -- The visiting Big Reds made the trip south on Ohio 7 one to remember with a sweep of the host Pilots by scores of 25-10, 25-15, 25-18.
Zara Harveth led Bellaire with eight kills, 10 digs, four aces and two blocks, while Brooklynn Zonker added nine kills and five digs. Gianna Schmidt recorded eight kills and served five aces. Gracelyn Maupin charted 18 assists and a trio of aces, while Ava Marinacci added 17 assists and two aces. Sidney Rowson contribuited four aces, three kills and half-a-dozen digs and Jadyn Thornton finished with four kills and two blocks.
Beallsville wins big
BEALLSVILLE -- The Blue Devils defeated Hundred by scores of 25-7, 25-12 and 25-7.
Kinley Hughes paced the winners with 20 assists, five aces and a like number of digs. Kaylee Hagan added 13 kills and six digs.
Shadyside wins second straight
SHADYSIDE -- The Tigers picked up their second straight win by sweeping Bridgeport Tuesday evening by scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-13.
The Tigers were led by Gentry Brown's 21 kills, nine digs and six aces. Bayleigh Harman had 13 assists and five aces, while Ali Weatherson posted six assists.
Harrison falls to Steubenville
CADIZ -- The Huskies dropped a tough, five-setter to Big Red on Tuesday by scores of 25-19, 18-25, 26-24, 20-25 and 15-8.
The Huskies were led by Danica Reni's 18 kills. Olivia Tonkovich had 47 assists, while Maddy Butler and Reni went for 30 and 25 digs, respectively. Maddie Sedgmer had 17 points.
Shenandoah sweeps Monroe
SARAHSVILLE -- The homestanding Zeps moved a step closer to clinching the MOVL volleyball title by toppling the Seminoles by scores of 25-18, 25-19, 25-21.
Monroe Central was led by Abby Thompson's nine kills and six blocks. She also had five points. Jacey English had six kills, while Kynzi Bishop posted five kills. Olivia Valkovic had eight assists. Maclarin Craft had eight digs, 10 points and two aces.
FOOTBALL
(Late Monday)
Richwood 36, Hundred 6
RICHWOOD -- The Hornets suffered another setback in a makeup game Monday evening.
Toby Michael led Hundred with 75 rushing yards on nine carries in the loss. He also made nine stops on defense and was credited with three tackles for loss.
Karter Parson rushed for 55 yards and made eight tackles on defense, two for a loss. Josiah Morgan nabbed an interception for the Hornets and finished with four tackles.
GIRLS SOCCER
Huskies Record two shutouts
CADIZ - The Harrison Central girls soccer team is having quite a season. They continued that with a pair of recent victories.
On Saturday, the Huskies (7-4) blanked visiting East Liverpool, 8-0, on the artificial pitch at Wagner Field. Monday night, they turned in a 1-0 whitewashing of visiting Philo.
Against the Potters, Angi Ferri scored four goals and added an assist, while Lily Gibbons tacked on two goals. Tallying one each were Carleigh Burgess and Hayden Elliott. Charting assists were Burgess, Alina Williams, Isabel Yeager and Grace Miller.
In the Philo win, the Huskies chalked up their fourth straight shutout as goalkeeper Vanessa Dowdle turned in a 13-save performance.
Williams scored the match's lone goal in the 20th minute. He shot from about 25 yards out in the center of the pitch tickled the twine.
Harrison Central visits Red Devil Stadium on Thursday to meet St. Clairsville in a key OVAC Class 4A matchup. The Huskies are currently fourth with the Red Devils right behind. St. Clairsville hosts East Liverpool today.