WELLSBURG — The Brooke girls’ soccer team controlled the ball and the match against St. Clairsville.

The Bruins netted the first five goals en route to a 5-1 victory against the Red Devils Tuesday night on the grass soccer field at Brooke.

“I made the choice to move to grass,” Brooke (2-6) head coach Jack Minger said. “We practice a lot on grass, and I hoped we would do a lot better on grass.”

The Green-and-Gold tallied four goals in the first half befor6e adding one in the second.

It was not a good night for the girls from Belmont County.

“No, not even close,” St. Clairsville (2-3-1) head coach Wes Stoner said. “Brooke obviously has talent. I know some of their girls. My little cousin plays for them.

“We just did not play well. I don’t know know why. The coaching staff doesn’t know why. The players don’t know why. We have to figure out where we are at.

“We usually play with a lot of energy and skill, and we did not show it. It was ugly all around. We have to forget about this one and move on.

Five girls scored goals for Brooke. Ella McCullough, Morgan McMahon, Johnna Lahita and Payton Adler all scored in the first 40 minutes of play. Mikayla Childers tallied her goal in the second half.

“We found the will to finally win a game,” Minger said. “We passed the ball well, and we actually shot well today. You saw we had goals from multiple people today and not just one player. Our defense held the ball very well.”

Megan Malin netted the lone goal for the Red Devils on a penalty kick.

Brooke used two goalies with each goalie playing a half. Franki Neff started in the net, and she made three saves in the first half. Hailey Buterbaugh played the second half. She made six saves.

“Both of our goalies are playing very well,” Minger said.

Riliegh Wood recorded eight saves in goal for the visitors.

“They are like where we are at,” Minger said. “They are struggling a little bit. I talked to their coach before the game. I don’t know if this is a rebuilding year for them.”

Brooke outshot St. Clairsville, 19-10. The Bruins recorded 13 shots on goal, while the Red Devils delivered 10.

“They were more aggressive,” Stoner said. “We are normally a possession team, and we did not do that. We just played a lot of long balls. That is opposite of what kind of team we are.

“We are going to have to look at the film and practice. We are going to have to make some adjustments. Something needs to change.

“We just have to let this one go. It is one loss in a season. We can’t keep thinking about it. We can’t keep thinking what if we play like we did against Brooke, what if we play like we did against Brooke?”

Both teams are scheduled to play next Thursday at 6 p.m.

Brooke is slated to play Catholic Central at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field, while St. Clairsville will play Harrison Central down at Red Devil Stadium.

“We have started to come together a little bit more,” Minger said. “Today, it looked like we came together as a team.”