Photo by Kim North Steubenville’s Anthony Vendetti (11) dribbles the ball up field as St. Clairsville’s Luke Swan (back) and Luke Miller (4) defend.

STEUBENVILLE — One team was locked in Thursday night, while the other, well, just wasn’t.

Scoring five goals in each half, Steubenville (4-0-1) rolled to a 10-1 decision of visiting St. Clairsville in boys’ soccer action on the Reno Field artificial pitch inside sun-splashed Harding Stadium.

“That was not enjoyable to watch … at all. Steubenville came out wanting it (the match) and we came out flat and stayed flat,” St. Clairsville (3-3-2) head coach Jeff Roberts said. “They beat us to every ball. They are well-coached and wanted it more than we did.”

Steubenville’s Anthony Vendetti netted the first of his three goals, all in the first half, midway through the first minute, but St. Clairsville’s Parker Galloway pounded a loose ball into the net early in the third minute to draw the Red Devils even.

However, four unanswered net-finders – two off the foot of Vendetti and one each by Ethan Stimpert and Eskil Hernes – made it 5-1 at the half.

Roberts said his team’s effort, of lack of, surprised him after the way they played at Harrison Central on Tuesday in a 5-2 triumph.

“I’m pretty disappointed. It seemed like they couldn’t get out of here soon enough,” Roberts admitted. “We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and see what is going on. Simple as that.”

Meanwhile, Steubenville head coach Greg Bowers was thrilled with what he saw transpire.

“We played well. We were focused and we had the ability to finish tonight which is something that we didn’t do against Linsly,” Steubenville head coach Greg Bowers said of a tie with the Cadets on Tuesday.

“We know we have a good squad and we’re in the middle of a big week,” Bowers noted. “We tied Linsly on Tuesday and won big tonight. Now we play at Dover on Saturday. It was good that we came out and played like we did tonight.”

The plethora of goals didn’t surprise Bowers.

“We have the ability to score some goals, and it’s just not one guy,” he said of the 10-spot. “We have several options and we have a lot of height. We use our skill to move the ball and put it in places where we can score from.”

Defensively, Bowers was also pleased with his goalkeeper.

“J.P. is a veteran goalkeeper. He’s a senior and the freshman for them (Galloway) had a good shot for their goal,” Bowers said of J.P. Walsh, who recorded four saves.

St. Clairsville freshman Talen Rice, making just his second varsity start, made eight saves before leaving early in the second half after being inadvertently kicked in the face during a scramble in the crease. Brayden Kralovic came on to record five stops.

In addition to Vendetti’s hat trick, Steubenville received two goals from Hernes and one each from Cole Bowers, Troy Ritchie and Josiah Rea. Matt Loot and Bowers evenly divided six assists, with Ritchie, Vendetti, Aidan Morales and Mason Montgomery also charting helpers.