SENDING IT — Catholic Central’s Brendan Kuebler sends a bouncing ball past Weir High’s Christian Flannigan during Thursday’s game at Jimmy Carey Stadium. – Andrew Grimm
WEIRTON — What a difference a year makes.
After dropping an early season game at home to Weir High early in the going last season, Catholic Central returned the favor with a big, early season victory at Jimmy Carey Stadium Thursday night.
“It’s a quality win for us, Weir High is a quality opponent,” Crusaders head coach Steve Kopcha said. “I have a lot of respect for (Weir High head coach Chris (LeFever) and what he’s building over here and the way those guys play.
“This was a big test and a good game for us.”
After jumping ahead by a pair of goals, the Crusaders (3-0-1) seemed to get stronger as the match went on — something Kopcha noticed — and tacked on two more for a 4-0 victory, including a goal in the final three minutes as they pressed all the way to final horn.
“It seemed that way,” he said of the team building momentum as the game went. “It seemed like as we possessed the ball we got more and more confidence and were moving it around a little bit, so I think we did get better as the game went on and we gained confidence.”
Senior Daniel Bolster connected for two of the goals and added an assist for the Crusaders. Santi Descalzo and Benji Rook also found the back of the net, while Brenden Kuebler added an assist.
On the flip side, it was an equally disappointing loss for the Red Riders, who fall to 1-3.
“We played like poop,” LeFever said. “We beat them 6-1 last year … This year they outplayed us, they deserved to win.
“They have a few players that have come a long way, and Steve Kopcha is someone I played indoor with. He’s a phenomenal player and a great coach.”
Weir High keeper Ben Howard tallied nine saves, including a couple marquee stops in the final 20 minutes.
“We’ve got some work to do,” LeFever said. “It’s a long season, but we can’t let OVAC points get away if we want to get in (the OVAC tournament). They’re a smaller school than us, they are going to win a lot of games and would have been worth a lot of points. We have to turn it around.”
UP NEXT
Catholic Central: Travels to Brooke on Tuesday.
Weir High: Hosts Oak Glen on Tuesday.
