Photo by Andrew Grimm Brooke’s William Cruny turns with the ball as Catholic Central’s Miguel Jauregui during Monday’s match at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field. The Bruins prevailed, 4-0.

STEUBENVILLE — The Brooke boys’ soccer team controlled the ball and the match against Steubenville Catholic Central.

Four players scored goals as the Bruins shut out the Crusaders, 4-0, on an overcast Monday evening at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.

“Our defense played extremely well,” Brooke (2-2) head coach Joe Pepe said. “I am pleased with our defense.

“Steve always puts a good team on the field. They are a young team. They have a fantastic keeper. They are young. They are well coached. Steve will have them playing on all cylinders by OVACs.”

The Blue-and-Gold struggled to get anything going offensively as the visitors from Brooke County kept possession for a majority of the match.

“That was the name of the game,” Catholic Central (2-6) head coach Steve Kopcha said. “They out-possessed us. They controlled the ball. We were not able to string passes together. We were not able to possess the ball. We were not able to create any chances on offense. They did a good job.”

Dylan Black and Christian Packer each collected a goal and an assist to lead the way for the Green-and-Gold. Evan Urso and Ben Ferguson also found the back of the net for the victors. Nicolo Dall Omo and Cooper McMahon each tallied an assist.

Jeremy Gilchrist made 10 saves in goal.

“We were able to create a lot of chances,” Pepe said. “Their keep did a phenomenal job. He made a lot of stops. We had to go back to the drawing board at halftime. We had to work things differently.

“Take nothing away from Steubenville Central. They are a good team. Steve is a good coach. He will have a competitive team.”

Michael Duff finished with 18 saves for the boys from Jefferson County.

“Michael did everything he could do,” Kopcha said. “He’s a standout for us. He’s a leader. He is one of the best keepers in the valley. He does an outstanding job. He got a good work out back there.”

Brooke bounced back after losing a hard-fought game to Woodrow Wilson Saturday.

“Woodrow Wilson is undefeated,” Pepe said. “We lost to them, 2-0, Saturday. In the last 15 minutes, we made a couple of mistakes. I thought we played well against a very-good team. I was very pleased with how we played.”

Brooke is scheduled to return to the pitch at 6 p.m. Wednesday at home against Parkersburg South.

Meanwhile, Catholic Central is slated to play Caldwell at 6 p.m. Tuesday at home.

“We have a week off,” Kopcha said. “It will give us a chance to get a couple of practices in. It will give us a chance to recover. We are going into September, and we will play our normal Tuesday-Thursday schedule. We will have a more normal schedule going into September.”