by Jeffrey Wickerham
The first half started as quickly as the last two matches, but unfortunately Tri-Valley was on the wrong end of the goal. Steubenville put pressure on from the beginning, which resulted in a corner kick. At 3 minutes, a cross was sent in and the Big Red put a head on the ball, which flew into the back of the net. 1-0 Steubenville.
Tri-Valley settled down, but the match ramped up. Both teams played extremely physical with hard fouls and heavily contested 50/50 balls. A player on each team was issued a yellow card, as well as the Stuebenville assistant coach. The highlight of the 1st half for the Scotties was when sophomore keeper Owen Harney made an absolutely amazing save, stretching out to grab the ball, keeping the Scotties within 1. Halftime, Stuebenville 1, Tri-Valley 0.
The second half whistle blew and the excitement was underway. The hard play continued and the ball went back and forth, with both teams unable to capitalize, until the 58th minute. Senior Gael Oseguara placed a free kick into the box to fellow senior Ethan McCllelan, who buried the ball into the back of the net for the Scotties first goal. 1-1
Soon after that, the Steubenville player who was issued a yellow in the first half, was issued his second yellow card, which meant he was sent off for the remainder of the game. The Scotties took advantage and attacked. In the 65th minute junior Dominic Dale slipped the ball to Oseguara who flicked it onto junior Yuvi Bastola. Yuvi finished the play, putting Tri-Valley up 2-1.
Three minutes later, in the 68 minute, senior Camden Wickerham played a free kick into Bastola, who passed to senior captain Sam Schott. Sam capitalized with a shot to the back of the net. Scotties 3, Big Red 1.
During the 2nd half, senior captains Wickerham, Watts, and Schott each kept the team under composure and even motioned to the Tri-Valley fans, making sure they stayed under composure as well. Not only was the temperature hot, the game was heated and each of the people in the stadium felt it.
In the 72nd minute, Oseguara placed a free kick into the box and freshmen Corbin Ryan struck the ball into the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Scotties 4, Big Red 1.
Three minutes later, Schott and Oseguara worked perfectly together with a pass from Oseguara to Schott, who pushed it back to Oseguara, who put the ball past the keeper, for his first goal of the season. Scotties 5, Big Red, 1.
Not only did the offense of the Scotties dominate, the defense did as well. Sophomore Oliver Baker, senior Ethan McLellan and senior captains Camden Wickerham and Devin Watts were as dominate as they have been all year. Junior Laetyn Holdsworth also aided on the defense. Keeper Owen Harney played STRONG between the pipes, making tremendous save after tremendous save, stopping 13 of the 14 Big Red shots on goal.
Holdsworth, along with seniors Elijah Felumlee and Gage Hindel, as well as Freshmen Jake Pratt and Corbin Ryan subbed into a strongly played midfield, joining starters Bastola, Oseguara, Dale, and junior Nick Flarey.
Sophomore forward Cris Carpenter and Sam Schott started up front, with freshmen Lewis Mozena subbing in throughout the match.
Of the 52 50/50 balls, the Scotties won 32 of them. This point was emphasized by head coach Keith Loughlin, to each player who he subbed in for:
“This is a physical game, be ready for that.”
“This game is physical, you’re up for it, right?”
“This is a physical game, you like that kind of game, right?”
It was obvious Loughlin’s players are anxious to learn. Every time a player came off the pitch, coach told them to get water and either had them talk to him, or assistant coach, Dustin Watts. Players were also coming off the pitch, wondering how they can improve, asking what can they do better.
This team wants to learn.
This team wants to get better.
Next up, Tri-Valley 4-1 (3-1 MVL), has a tough test against Maysville 6-2 (3-1 MVL), a team who has the 2nd leading goal scorer in Ohio, so far this season. The match will be held at Kenny Wolford Park on Tuesday, September 5. JV kicks off at 5:30 with Varsity to follow. See you then!