photo by: Kim North

St. Clairsville junior goalkeeper Kiya Kyer, left, keeps her eye on the ball despite Minerva’s Kyleigh Lippincott (2) applying pressure during Wednesday night’s Ohio Division IV, East 2 Sectional Tournament on the artificial pitch at Red Devil Stadium. The Red Devils won 2-0 as Kyer made 20 saves.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Kiya Kyer may stand 5-5 in her bare feet, but she stood 10-foot tall and was goal-proof Wednesday night in between the pipes as St. Clairsville began defense of its Ohio Division IV girls soccer sectional championship.

The fifth-seeded Red Devils (10-6-3) received a 20-save effort from the junior goalkeeper and two goals from Emma Gasber in blanking No. 7 Minerva, 2-0, on the artificial pitch at Red Devil Stadium.

“It didn’t seem like that many,” Kyer said of her save total. “We’ve really picked up our game with our seniors out. We’re really playing for them because we know they want us to play more despite their not being able to.”

Kyer was referring to upperclassmen Ava Borkoski, Kendall Sall and Maxim Lussier who are sidelined due to various injuries. The Red Devils are also without junior Ashlynn Lednik, who led the team in scoring last season, and Ishmeet Kaur. However, Olivia McKeever and Kaylee Shafer did return to the lineup.

With the hard-earned victory, St. Clairsville, which advanced to the regional finals last fall, will travel to Zoarville on Monday to face third-seeded Tuscarawas Valley, which ousted No 13 Morgan by an 8-1 count, also on Wednesday night. That match begins at 6:30 p.m.

Kyer stopped 10 shots in each half and benefitted from two shots by the Lions (9-8-2) clanking off posts. She was tested time after time, but responded each and every time.

“I work a lot with a trainer during the summer with boys’ goalies,” she said of her success.

St. Clairsville head coach Wes Stoner continues to be amazed at Kyer’s performances, which have come despite her playing through a torn labrum that will require surgery at the end of the season.

“She is phenomenal. We’ve been watching her do this for three seasons now,” Stoner praised. “She continues to get better and better. She plays with a lot of heart and soul. Without her, we might have lost this game.”

The shutout was the sixth of the season after she recorded a single-season program record 12 a year ago.

Stoner said the girls took the game a little more seriously than usual because during the drawing for the pairings, Minerva bypassed a first-round home game and jumped on the Red Devils.

“It’s just another game that we want to win and advance. Regardless of who we play, we have to play our best to win,” he said. “The girls, however, took it personally. For me, I just wanted to prepare them for whomever we played. I didn’t care who it was. They were ready tonight.”

Gasber scored what turned out to be the only goal St. Clairsville would need in the ninth minute. She collected the ball after a fortunate bounce, sailed down the middle of the box before rolling the ball along the turf into the lower left corner. Elizabeth Morgan logged the assist.

In the 50th minute, Gasber took another feed from Morgan and dribbled down the left wing. When Minerva goalkeeper Allison Sullivan came charging out of the crease, Gasber somehow got the ball past her and tickled the twine.

“The first goal is always huge, but the second was enormous,” Stoner allowed. “That was a big relief because they (Minerva) are a good team that kept applying the pressure and sending good shots to the net. They make you work.”

The goals for Gasber gave her 31 on the season.

“She has taken the goal-scoring responsibilities totally upon herself,” the coach said. “Not that there aren’t others who can score, but she wants to be the goal scorer. Both of her goals tonight came on great finishes.”

Morgan had both assists, giving her 22 on the campaign.