Potters will learn from loss
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STEUBENVILLE -- The extra wait for the home opener proved to be worth it for the Steubenville Big Red boys soccer team.
Playing for just the second time this season and on their home turf for the first time, Steubenville got off to a good start against visiting East Liverpool and rolled to a 6-0 victory over the Potters at Harding Stadium.
"It's good to win the home opener," Big Red head coach Greg Bowers said. "We couldn't find anyone to play in Friday Night Futbol and started a week later, had to go to Dover to start and play one of the better teams we'll see all season right off the bat, then had the Cambridge game cancelled last week so it was really nice to be back on the field.
"I know the guys were antsy to play and tired of practicing every day. You could tell they were ready to play a game again."
For Big Red (1-1) Landon Bowers tallied two goals and two assists, scoring once in each half, while Chase Beall added three assists, Joel Elliot has a goal and an assist and Nate Chipps, Teddy Gorman and Justin Pathakamuri each tallied a goal.
"We wanted to get off to a fast start, really get to the feet and put pressure on them and we did a nice job of that," coach Bowers said. "Our finishing could always be a little bit better, but we created chances. I was happy to see the young guys get out there and get to contribute and get some varsity experience. They played well. We have a couple of senior leaders out there and a couple of juniors, it was good to see the young guys get out there in the mix."
Big Red keeper JJ Lamantia was not tested often but combined with the defense, pitched a shutout.
"Our defense played well," coach Bowers said. "JJ back there did what he needed to do, Chase (Beall) and Luca (Holt) locked down the middle, Tommy (Lucas) too. Our midfield did really well today and kept the ball out of our end and allowed us to have so many chances."
While a tough result for the Potters (1-3), they gave up four goals in the first half but only two in the second half and kept playing, which coach Dallas Brewer was glad to see.
"We know its challenge coming down here, I spent the last three years at Oak Glen so I knew what we were in for," he said. "Big Red is always tough. They have some fast kids and Landon Bowers is tough. He cooked our defense a few times and is a really good player. I told our guys at halftime that when you get down, you have keep moving forward and keep playing and we did that. As much as losing 6-0 is rough, there are some good things we can take out of it."
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East Liverpool: Travels to Cambridge on Tuesday evening.
Steubenville: Hosts Brooke next Thursday night.