WINTERSVILLE — Teammates form a special bond, and it is a bond that can last for the rest of their lives.

Cate Calissie and Mackenzie Smith developed a bond when they were teammates at Wheeling Central, however, Monday the two former Maroon Knights were on opposite sides of the pitch.

Calissie led the Indian Creek girls’ soccer team into battle against Smith and Wheeling Central. The Redskins struck first less than nine minutes into the match, however, the Maroon Knights tallied the final two goals and they withstood a late charge by the Redskins en route to a 2-1 victory at Kettlewell Stadium.

“A lot of the kids are still learning,” Calissie said. “The effort was there. The more we play, the more we will learn and that will make us better. We have to find a way to win a game. We are very defensive minded, unfortunately. I cannot discredit our offensive push.”

The visitors from Ohio County netted a goal in each half to rally for the win.

Trailing 1-0 less than nine minutes in, the girls in white did not give up and they battled back to record the hard-fought victory.

“Tell me about it, tell me about it,” Smith said. “This was a lucky one. I am proud of the girls. I’m glad I switched 2 and 4. Monti Smith was our defensive MVP today. She played a great game. We needed that speed.

“We had some good shots today. We fell off a little bit on offense. Liz made some good saves.”

Senior captain Andriana Pompeo produced both goals for Wheeling Central (5-4-1.) Abie Riedel and Kate Tiu each tallied an assist for the victors.

“They play very similar to us,” Calissie said. “It’s like when I played. They are tough. They are hard-nosed. They are well coached.”

Senior Abby Starkey scored the lone goal of the match for Indian Creek (0-5).

“Indian Creek is a tough team, 100 percent,” Smith said. “I played with Coach Calissie They were ready to play. They did not slack off. They played tough from start to finish. They played a good game. I knew it was going to be a hard game.”

The two goalies – Indian Creek’s Elizabeth Hope and Wheeling Central’s Liz Romanek each made some key saves throughout the contest.

Starkey put her team on the scoreboard when she scored with 31:41 remaining in the first half giving the girls from Jefferson County an early 1-0 lead.

The girls in red had some chances to extend their lead, but were unable to find the back of the net a second time. Starkey sent one shot just wide of the far post.

The Maroon Knights had a golden opportunity to tie the score, but the shot bounced off the post with less than 22 minutes left in the half keeping Wheeling Central off the scoreboard.

Wheeling Central finally got on the scoreboard when Pompeo knocked the ball into the back of the net tying the score at 1 with 9:03 remaining to be played before halftime.

Both teams had chances to score in the second half, but neither was able to break the tie for more than 30 minutes.

Wheeling Central gained possession of the ball, and Pompeo gathered in a pass and dribbled down the field before firing a shot past Hope and into the far corner giving the Maroon Knights a 2-1 advantage with 9:46 still showing on the scoreboard clock.

The Redskins pushed forward in hopes of scoring the equalizer, however, Romanek and the Wheeling Central defense was up to the challenge and they were able to keep Indian Creek off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

“A little bit,” Calissie said asked if it was tough coaching against her former teammate. “This is the first time since played together in high school. It made it more fun.”

Wheeling Central is scheduled to play Steubenville CC at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the Tony Recinella Soccer Field.

Indian Creek is slated to return to the field at 6 p.m. Thursday out at Cambridge.