St. Clairsville’s Tyler Harris (5) defends against Indian Creek’s Daniel Aguliera during their match Tuesday night at Red Devil Stadium in St. Clairsville.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE–It took St. Clairsville less than two minutes to strike first in Tuesday’s home match vs. Indian Creek.

Lucas Causey found the ball on the left side and sweeped a pass behind his leg to senior Chris Schmidt, who found an open Parker Galloway. Galloway buried what would be the first of six goals on the night from the right side with 38:54 showing.

What transpired during the next 30 minutes was met with equal parts elation and disbelief, depending on what sideline you were standing on. The result was a final score of 9-0, giving the Red Devils their first win of 2023 and visiting Indian Creek a disappointing season opener.

For St. C., it was a stark turnaround from the team’s previous two games–losses of 6-3 and 10-1 against Maysville and Dover, respectively.

“We started off our schedule pretty tough and we tried to do that with our young team to see and feel how we played,” St. Clairsville head coach Jeff Roberts said. “It led to us having a better output in this game.

“We have a few things we need to work on, but it was a good game. Creek didn’t give up and were still trying to work it until the end.”

Indian Creek head coach Danny Lawrence may have had a differing opinion on that statement.

After watching what he considered a lackluster effort in the first half, Lawrence was basically in disbelief.

He knows his team is young. He expected to give up some goals. But for a team that finished 1-1 in its scrimmages, including a win against Columbiana, this was unacceptable.

“I’ve been coaching for nine seasons, and this is the most embarrassing it’s ever been. I don’t know, it just feels like we didn’t practice all summer,” Lawrence said. “We had two scrimmages and we won one of them. I knew there’d be goals scored, but I honestly can’t say what it was.

“They were physical, and we didn’t like it. There wasn’t much to even hang your hat on.

Carson Hendershot’s direct kick looked like it was going to be cleanly fielded off the bounce by Creek keeper Joseph Diggs, who ran up to field the bounce. But before he could, Galloway beat him to the ball for his second goal of the game. Galoway struck a third time before sophomore Brennen Rice got into the act with 25:11 remaining.

Galloway scored twice more, wrapped around a length right-side blast from Schmidt that proved too high for Diggs.

Schmidt and Galloway provided the final two goals in the second half.

While the seniors did the bulk of the scoring, the Devils’ starting lineup is littered with underclassmen–three freshmen and five sophomores, including starting keeper Talan Rice, who made nine saves for the clean sheet.

The season may have started slow, but St. C. has the makeup for a solid team during the next few seasons.

“We are trying to get everybody jelling and working together,” Roberts said. “It’s great because they are young and in the next hopefully 2-3 years we can build and keep building to a higher level. I’m looking forward to the next few years for sure.”

Schmidt added three assists, with Camden Judge assisting on the final goal for St. C. Diggs made 10 saves in a busy night in net for the Redskins (0-1).

St. Clairsville 9, Indian Creek 0

I–Goalkeeper: Diggs (10 saves). S–Goals: Galloway 6, Schmidt 2, Rice (Schmidt 3, Hendershot, Judge. Goalkeeper: Rice (9 saves).