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photo by: Kim North

St. ClairsvilleÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s Elizabeth Morgan (5 ) controls the ball in front of East LiverpoolÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s Chloe Galeoti (4) during their Ohio Division IV Eastern District tournament semifinal match Monday on the artificial pitch inside Harrison CentralÀÏ˾»úÖ±²¥™s Wagner Field in Cadiz. The Red Devils won, 4-0.

CADIZ – For the third time in five years, the St. Clairsville girls’ soccer team has advanced to the Eastern District championship game. However, due to expansion of the sport, the Red Devils are now in Division IV instead of Division II as in the past.

The top-seeded St. Clairsville (12-5-1) blanked No. 10 East Liverpool, 4-0, in the district semifinals Monday night on the artificial pitch at Harrison Central’s Wagner Field. With the wire-to-wire victory, the Red Devils advance to meet No. 4 Beaver Local Wednesday night at 6:30 on the artificial pitch inside Harding Stadium in Steubenville with a berth in the regional semis on the line. The Beavers knocked off No. 3 River View, 2-1, in overtime, also on Monday at Sandy Valley High School.

“It’s hard to beat a team three times in the same season, but we’re going to give it our very best,” St. Clairsville head coach Wes Stoner said.

No matter the division, nobody except Stoner saw this coming, at least not at this stage of the youthful team’s careers.

“If you want to call this ahead of schedule, then yes, this is a surprise to be in the district finals,” Stoner noted. “This team, although they are very young, is very talented. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, but some of the age showed up tonight. We weren’t finishing under a little bit of pressure. Hopefully, they’re used to that now.”

St. Clairsville starts two sophomores and a freshman up front, as well as numerous underclassmen.

“We are still a very, very young team,” Stoner admitted. “But, like I said, these girls are very talented.”

In the first half St. Clairsville had numerous scoring opportunities but couldn’t finish. While it dominated play in the Potters end of the field, the Red Devils weren’t getting to the 50/50 balls as quick as East Liverpool.

“That was because they were being super aggressive. They had a great game plan,” Stoner said of the Potters. They packed 6-7 girls back on defense and made it hard for us to be able to attack like we usually do,” Stoner added. “They played behind the ball and didn’t give us any short shots.”

St. Clairsville sophomore Emma Gasber found the net in the final minute of the first half off an assist by Elizabeth Morgan, giving the Red devils the lead – and momentum – going into the second half.

“That goal was huge,” Stoner stressed. “It kind of brought us alive a little.”

Morgan made it 2-0 in the 49th minute when she blasted a right-footed laser past East Liverpool goalkeeper Mollie Petrie. Ashlynn Lednik was credited with the assist.

The Red Devils tacked on a pair of goals in the waning minutes as Gasber netted her second from Olivia McKeever in the 71st minute and Lednik nudged the ball into the net three minutes later off an assist from Gasber.

The Potters finally recorded their first shot on goal in the 51st minute on a direct kick by Annabel Fitch from 30 yards. However, St. Clairsville’s Kiya Kyer was up to the task as she recorded three saves in her 10th shutout of the season.

St. Clairsville’s only regional tournament appearance came in 2020 when they knocked off top-seeded John Glen on penalty kicks at John Glenn, 2-1. The Red Devils lost in the regional semis, 5-0, to Dover at Red Devil Stadium. In 2021 they lost to Steubenville at Indian Creek’s Kettlewell Memorial Stadium.