Tuttle Scores His Second Brace In Two Games As St. C. Boys Roll

Red Devils Move To 2-0 With 7-1 Victory Over Steubenville Catholic

ST. CLAIRSVILLE - It may only be the second match of the season, but St. Clairsville's Trevor Tuttle has had quite a start.

Tuttle recorded his second brace in as many outings Monday night to lead St. Clairsville to a commanding, 7-1, triumph over visiting Steubenville Catholic (0-1-1) in boys' high school soccer action on the artificial pitch inside Red Devil Stadium.

Tuttle, one of seven seniors on the Red Devils roster, also scored three times in the season-opening 4-1 nod over Union Local on Friday.

Tuttle completed his second three-goal performance with a highlight reel tally. Teammate James Parsons' throw-in from the sideline went to Tuttle who was facing away from the net. However, that didn't stop him from heading it over Crusaders goalkeeper Joseph Vranish and then watched it bounce into the empty cage for a backwards header.

"That was my first one of those," Tuttle said. "I was thinking of any way to score. The goal was behind me, so I just went for it," he explained. That made it 5-0 in the 52nd minute.

St. Clairsville head coach Jeff Roberts said he has never seen a goal scored like that in all of his soccer days.

"I don't ever remember seeing a backwards header. That was quite the way to get a hat trick," he said. "It was amazing, but it doesn't surprise me because of the way Trevor plays. Hats off to him."

Despite graduation losses that claimed the program's all-time leading scorer in Parker Galloway and standout goaltender Talan Rice to name two of the standouts, St. Clairsville hasn't missed a beat.

"We put a lot of work in. Fortunately, we have a solid senior class and we've got a lot of kids that have come out for the first time," Roberts stressed. "A lot of kids are contributing. I think we have 15 new kids that didn't play last year.

"I don't think anyone counted on us scoring this many goals or playing like we have in the first two matches, but if we are flying under the radar, it won't be for long, maybe a minute. I'm sure people are out there looking at our results."

Tuttle echoed those thoughts.

"We just had to connect and keep it together," he said. "We lost a lot of people (to graduation), but we've been working hard."

Tuttle made it 1-0 in the sixth minute off a throw-in by Lucas Causey. Camden Judge sent James Parsons in all alone to make it 2-0 16 minutes later. It became 3-0 when Tuttle headed in a Noah Locke corner kick in the 38th minute.

"They got off to a good start. They did a great job of beating us to a lot of balls, and I think that's how they scored their first couple of goals," Steubenville Catholic head coach Steve Kopcha said. "It was a matter of them getting to them faster than what we were able to. By doing that, they created some good opportunities and put the ball in the back of the net."

Parsons muscled his way through a pair of Steubenville Catholic defenders before blasting the ball past Vranish and into the back of the net for a 4-0 reading in the 43rd minute.

Tuttle completed his brace with his unusual net-finder.

"It's a team sport. It takes everyone, not just one player," Tuttle insisted. "I couldn't do it without the great play of Lucas (Causey), James (Parsons) and Noah (Locke)."

"He's been on fire. He's really been lighting it up this year," Roberts said of Tuttle. "He's been really hungry. He practices hard and has put in a lot of hard work over the summer. It's paying off so far. He can be a difference maker because he never quits."

Goals by Judge (from Causey) and Caden Blacker (unassisted) capped the scorefest.

Steubenville Catholic got on the board in the 76th minute when Ben Walsh scored on a penalty kick.

"We got a goal there late that showed we were trying to work hard the entire game," Kopcha said.

St. Clairsville first-year goalkeeper Jani Viczian made just two saves in 60 minutes of action. He was relieved by Keenan White.

Vranish was credited with a dozen stops.

The Crusaders return to action Wednesday night when Heartland Christian visits, while St. Clairsville travels to Marietta on Thursday.