Indian Creek’s Emily Buchanan and Steubenville’s Libby Saccoccia battle for possession of the ball on Saturday. -Joe Catullo
STEUBENVILLE — The sweep is complete.
The Indian Creek girls soccer team tallied three goals in the second half, en route to a 3-1 victory against Big Red in the last of four matches on the day as part of the eighth annual Together We Care soccer tournament Saturday afternoon on Reno Field inside Harding Stadium.
Indian Creek has defeated Catholic Central, Edison and now Big Red this season.
The match was scoreless at halftime.
“I told the girls at halftime to come out in the second half and play the way we play,” Indian Creek (9-3) head coach Joe Lewis said. “It was a good first half. It was even. We wanted to come out and put more pressure on Steubenville’s backline. We weren’t putting enough pressure on their backline.”
The Redskins took the lead early in the second half, but Big Red bounced right back to tie the score. Both teams had chances to take the lead, but Indian Creek netted the final two goals to secure the victory and the county championship.
“They just played it up top and ran to it,” Big Red (6-5-1) head coach Annie Cutri said. “We gave up an own goal on a corner. That was unlucky. We think soccer-wise we controlled the match. We were unlucky in the first half. We had some shots slide right past the corner, and they did not go into the net.”
Emily Buchanan, Riley Gualtiere and Abby Copeland all tallied a goal for the Redskins. All three goals were unassisted. Copeland’s goal came on a penalty kick late in the second half to seal the deal. Makenzie Taylor made nine saves in goal.
Mary Marshall scored the lone goal for Big Red off of an assist by Anastasia Crisante.
Elexis Martin, who was filling in for an injured Lakyn Blackburn, made three saves in goal.
The Redskins struck early in the second half, as Buchanan found the back of the net with 38:16 left to play to give Indian Creek a 1-0 lead.
“We had a little bit of a defensive letdown,” Lewis said. “They scored less than a minute later, but we kept attacking. Good things happened as a result of our attacking, and we are playing well heading into sectionals in a couple of weeks.”
Big Red responded and came right back to tie the score 41 seconds later when Marshall found the back of the net.
“These girls came right back and scored a goal,” Cutri said. “We scored, and we were right back in the game. That is something we have been working on.”
Gualtiere scored on a corner kick when the ball bounced off of a Big Red defender and into the net, giving Indian Creek a 2-1 lead with 27:12 remaining to be played.
Trailing by a goal, Big Red pushed forward in hopes of scoring the equalizer, but it was not meant to be. Taylor and the Indian Creek defense rose to the challenge.
Copeland put the game away when she scored on a penalty kick with 3:52 left on the clock.
“We are county champions,” Lewis said. “It is nice to win it two years in a row. It is hard to beat a team two times in a row. No. 11 (Jaleyss) Scales played a hell of a game for them. She single handedly stopped our attacks. She played a great game.
“It was a beautiful day. It is great that all of these soccer teams could get together and play soccer games. This is all for a good cause. It is even nicer that all of soccer teams got together and all the local teams were all able to play games.”
The first seven years of the event raised more than $135,000.
“It is definitely a great event,” Cutri said. “All the girls volunteered. They were here at 8:30 in the morning. This event means something to them. We all want to come together and support a great cause.”
Prior to the start of the first match, a moment of silence was held in memory of Weir girls’ soccer player Madison Crowe and her mother, Melissa Rowland.
“It has been very difficult,” Lewis said. “All the girls know each other. Some of the girls played with her in the rec league or in travel ball. It is a really difficult time, especially for Weir.”
“I had the pleasure to coach Flo at Spartans for a short period of time,” Cutri said. “My heart goes out to their family. It has been very hard on their players and coaches and the soccer community. She was an amazing girl. She was a great girl.”
UP NEXT
Indian Creek: Hosts Weir High at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Steubenville: Hosts Brooke at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Link LonkOctober 04, 2020 at 12:06PM
https://www.weirtondailytimes.com/sports/2020/10/creek-girls-win-county-title-defeat-big-red/
Creek girls win county title, defeat Big Red - The Daily Times
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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