Steubenville Catholic Defeats Linsly in 1A/3A OVAC Championship
WHEELING — Steubenville Catholic boys’ soccer coach Steve Kopcha insists winning OVAC championships never gets old.
But the Crusaders are making it look really easy.
Steubenville Catholic scored five times in the second half en route to a 7-1 victory against Linsly in the OVAC Class 1-A/3-A championship Saturday at Wheeling Island Stadium. It is the second straight title in the playoff format and sixth division title in the past seven years.
“It is always exciting and we feel very privileged,” Kopcha said. “We are very thankful that we were in this position and we were able to come out on top. It is a very good feeling.
“We have a real good group of kids and it is all on the players. They do a tremendous job. They deserve all the credit.”
Steubenville Catholic (10-0) entered the second half in front, 2-0, but Linsly had controlled most of the possession. The final 40 minutes was all Crusaders, though.
Mickey Irvin, who opened the scoring with a goal less than four minutes in, scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half to double the Steubenville Catholic lead to 4-0 and seemingly end any good thoughts Linsly (7-7) had about itself coming out of the locker room.
Less than two minutes later, that lead grew to 5-0 as Irvin assisted Tom Beigel.
“I think our bench might have been a little bit of a factor,” Kopcha said. “We had a little bit more depth coming off the bench and were able to make a few adjustments at halftime, keying on their key players and we did just did a better job of containing them.”
Linsly had its chances in the first half, outshooting the Cadets 5-4 in the first half. Not finishing plays has been a bugaboo for the Cadets this season. It also didn’t help that Steubenville Catholic goalie Austin Fowkes was on his game.
The senior keeper was there to stop a number of point-blank shots and also made a diving save on Linsly sharpshooter Manuel Suita to keep the Cadets off the scoreboard.
“That was great senior leadership from him,” Kopcha said. “Austin is a top-notch goalie. We rely on him very much and he didn’t disappoint.”
Steubenville Catholic also got two goals from Dante Asci and added an own goal in the first half. Suita netted the lone goal for the Cadets.
“I thought we played really well and we outplayed them in the first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half. Our problem is we didn’t score,” Linsly coach Eric Fries said. “They were super efficient scoring. No. 32 (Irvin) was clinical. He had three shots and three goals. It takes the breath out of you quickly. We control the play and they score on a counter attack and you have a lot of effort that is not rewarded.
“We have first-year soccer players who have never played before starting for us. We did a great job of getting to this point. Being here is one thing, though, and capitalizing on it is different. I am tremendously proud of my guys for how they have improved since the start of the season.”
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