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Steubenville Girls Downs Harrison

Marshall scores three goals in the second half

Photo by Andrew Grimm Steubenville’s Mary Marshall attempts a kick while Harrison Central’s Kerstin Jefferies and Alina Williams defend during Thursday’s game.

CADIZ — Jared Robinson’s goal for his Big Red girls soccer team is simple early in the season — get better every half.

Steubenville did just that Thursday evening at Harrison Central, as it was in control most of the way to a 10-0 victory.

“We came out and worked on things that we wanted to work on and things that we wanted to establish,” Robinson said. “We moved the ball well, we won the 50-50 balls and played more of our kind of game than we did our last time out.

“That is what our girls are all about this year — truly getting better every half that they play. I feel like we did not do that (against Catholic Central) Friday, but (Thursday) we did that, and that was the difference.”

Big Red (2-0) led 4-0 at the halftime break, then cranked the offense up even more in the second half.

The Huskies (0-3) run of tough opponents early in the season continued as the young group tries to figure things out.

“We’re super young and learning new positions,” Harrison Central coach Mindy Madzia said. “It’s not only coming back with seven returners, but putting them in the places that I need them to be to be successful. They are learning. We started out with a tough schedule.”

Madzia is encouraged by the way her team identifies where it needs to improve.

“They know what they need to do,” she said. “They see it when they come out. They sit there and talk about it. They know what we need to get better at. We need to get stronger on our passes. We need to hold our marks defensively.

We’re going to continue to work hard.

“At halftime I will say, ‘Girls, what do we need?’ And they start naming stuff. I know that they know it, it is just taking what they know and putting it to their feet.”

The score allowed Robinson to get everyone onto the field, which is important with a larger-than-normal roster.

“It is important because that is going to pay off in the future,” he said. “We have tried to establish that as a program. This is the first time as a program since I’ve been at Big Red that we’ve had more than 27 girls, and it is a beautiful thing to see. The more of them that get to play, and the more they get experience, it is just going to pay off in the long run.”

Mary Marshall left little doubt about the outcome with a furious offensive display early in the second half. She opened the second half scoring in the third minute with a goal from in close, then scored two more times in the next three minutes to push the lead to 7-0. She then set up Big Red’s ninth goal with an assist.

“She is a very hard worker and she is a very talented girl,” Robinson said. “She plays a lot and is constantly improving. She including her teammates more, which is then coming back to help her.”

Also scoring for Big Red were Libby Saccoccia with a pair of goals, Myla Gulan, Anastasia Crisante, Rylee Hubbard and Jadyn Bennett. Bennett had two assists, Crisante three assists and Chloe Petrelle one.

“It’s really becoming a team effort,” Robinson said. “We’re not highlighting any one player. We’re looking to establish our rhythm as a team and having it pay off — and it did.”

In goal, Zoe Nocera was seldom challenged, but stopped all three shots that came her way. Britton Positano made 13 saves in the other net for Harrison Central.

UP NEXT

Big Red: Faces East Liverpool on Saturday.

Harrison Central: Hosts Maysville Saturday in the first game of another girls-boys doubleheader.

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