photo by: Andrew Grimm

Steubenville’s Bailee Beall and Oak Glen’s Brianna Polly battle for position on a corner kick

NEW MANCHESTER — Big Red senior standout Bailee Beall entered this season well on her way to becoming the girls soccer program’s all-time leading scorer.

It didn’t take her very long to check off that goal. In fact, not even two full games.

Beall netted three goals Thursday evening in a 6-1 victory at Oak Glen, the third of which was No. 76 of her career, putting her atop the list ahead Mary Marshall, who held the previous record of 75.

“I’m really happy for her,” Big Red head coach Annie Cutri said. “She’s a total team player, completely unselfish. She is a great leader and a great captain. She is awesome all around, we’re really happy for her. She got it out of the way early in the season, the pressure is off.”

Beall scored her first goal just 40 seconds into the game Thursday, setting the tone right off the get go. She added another in the seventh minute for a 2-0 lead, tying the record.

The record-breaking goal came late in the second half as she connected with just under seven minutes to play, which at the time made it a 5-1 game.

“Oak Glen has always been a battle for us, so it’s a good win,” Cutri said. “There are some things we need to work on, but the girls fought hard. We scored two early and had a bit of a lull, but the girls dialed it back up, especially in the second half.

“Getting up 2-0 on their turf was a big boost.”

After Beall’s quick strikes early, Oak Glen (0-2) picked it up a little bit and got a couple of saves from Giada Giambroni to stay within striking range, but Big Red’s Jaylin Crites connected in the 28th minute for a 3-0 lead, which Steubenville carried into the halftime break.

Brynn Bowers’ goal 16 minutes into the second half made it a 4-0 lead.

Oak Glen got on the board with under nine minutes to play as Macy Hartung connected to make it 4-1, but Beall’s hat trick goal was followed by another from Gianna Thomas with just over two minutes to play to provide the final margin.

“Getting in a hole early made it tough,” Oak Glen head coach Bill Watts said. “We have a new crew this year, I think we just need calm down and settle in. We look good in spurts, we have some spurts where we’re competitive, but some where we kind of fall apart. We have some things to work on. We’ve played two games now, we’re going to look at some film and make some adjustments.

“We started off against two good teams, now we’ve got a measuring stick to see where we’re at and what we need to work on and can regroup.”

Big Red also got a three-assist game from Lucy Saccoccia, while Bowers also had a helper for a two-point night.

Big Red has now out-scored its opponents 15-1 through two games.

UP NEXT

Big Red: Travels to St. Clairsville on Monday.

Oak Glen: Hosts North Marion on Saturday.