photo by: Kim North

St. Clairsville’s Maxim Lussier (7) dribbles the ball upfield Tuesday night as Weir’s Ciara Greathouse (9) follows and Madelyn Cramer (5) looks on. The Red Riders defeated the Red Devils, 3-1.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Weir and St. Clairsville entered Tuesday night’s girls’ high school soccer match on the artificial pitch inside Red Devil Stadium as the top two ranked teams in the OVAC Class 4A.

The No. 1 Red Riders (5-1-3) used two goals by Jaidyn Kelly and another off the foot of Madelyn Cramer for a 3-1 decision over the No. 2 Red Devils (3-3-0). The two could possibly meet again in a couple of weeks when the OVAC Tournament begins.

Despite outshooting the hosts by a wide 20-3 margin, Weir had trouble finding the net. Much of that had to do with the sparkling performance by St. Clairsville goalkeeper Kiya Kyer, who turned in 17 saves, some of the highlight-reel variety.

“I thought we played really well. We defended well,” St. Clairsville head coach Wes Stoner said. “To keep a team that is that skilled off the board for most of the game, one or two goals isn’t that bad.

“I think my girls know now that they can play with a team like Weir,” Stoner added. “They went to the state (tournament) last year in West Virginia and only lost one starter. We’re still young, mostly freshmen and sophomores, tonight was a good learning experience.”

Weir head coach Jeremy Angelo acknowledged Kyer’s play, but said his team tested her.

“She made a few really good saves and a few outstanding ones, but most of our other shots were right at her,” he stressed. “When you don’t test her she can see what she can do, but we had opportunities to tuck the ball in and didn’t. St. Clairsville came to play. They kept battling.

“If you don’t capitalize on your opportunities, that’s what can happen,” he continued. “A team gets one goal and they believe they can win. In the second half, until we got that third goal, it was a game.”

The Red Riders took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Cramer sailed in all alone from near midfield before sending a sizzler along the turf from 15 yards out past Kyer. Bianca Pittman earned the assist. It was Weir’s fifth shot of the game.

St. Clairsville didn’t record its first shot until the 27th minute as the Weir back row of Pittman, Jenna Costello, Gabriella Spickard and Myleigh Clevenger kept the Red Devils at bay. Freshman Elizabeth Morgan’s shot was denied by Weir goalkeeper Rayna Hoover who only faced three shots.

Kelly banged home a corner kick by Lexie Fayak early in the 47th minute as the visitors increased their advantage to 2-0.

However, before the fans could get settled back in their seats, the Red Devils cut the deficit in half on an unassisted net-finder by Morgan, also in the 47th minute.

Late in the match, Kyer made two outstanding saves in a row to keep the Red Devils close. In the 69th minute she denied Cramer on a point-blank drive and then smothered the loose ball when it got loose. Three minutes later, the sophomore dove to snag a drive by Cramer.

In between, the Red Devils nearly drew even as Hoover got two hands on a blast from the top of the box by Emma Gasber. However, the ball glanced off her hands and trickled towards the goal line as she dove to corral it.

“Kiya played outstanding again,” Stoner noted. “That’s two or three straight games that she has played out of her mind. That’s good for her and us.”

Kelly picked up her second goal in the waning seconds as she knocked home a loose ball from deep in the crease following a scrum. St. Clairsville’s Ava Borkoski blocked the initial shot with an open net behind her as Kyer was down and couldn’t get up in time.

Weir has nine returning seniors and a handful of juniors, most of whom played on the state tournament team a year ago.

“Our issue right now is we can’t seem to put the ball in the net,” Angelo said. “We controlled the game. We moved the ball and we did a lot of good things. We just need to keep playing. The season is still young.”