Photo by Kim North St. Clairsville’s Trevor Tuttle (4) kicks the ball away from Steubenville’s Landon Bowers during first-half action Thursday night at Red Devil Stadium in St. Clairsville. Also pictured are Red Devils’ Tyler Harris, Quentin Stora (11), Steubenville’s Joey Rice (4) and St. Clairsville’s Mavrik Malin (6), Parker Galloway (3), James Parsons (9) and goalkeeper Talan Rice. The match ended in a 1-all draw.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Something had to give Thursday night as a pair of undefeated boys’ soccer teams met on the artificial pitch at Red Devil Stadium … but it didn’t.

Steubenville (3-0-1) and St. Clairsville (4-0-1) entered the match atop the OVAC Class 5A and Class 4A standings, respectively, and will remain that way after battling to a hard-fought, 1-1, draw in front of a spirited crowd.

Although the shots were lop-sided, 21-5, the Red Devils’ defense and goalkeeper Talan Rice came up huge time after time.

“That was a battle between two good teams. It was fun to watch but also stressful at times,” St. Clairsville head coach Jeff Roberts said. “They are a heck of a team and so are we. No one gave up, both teams kept pressing forward.”

St. Clairsville scored first when Parker Galloway, who was injured in the season opener a year ago and missed the entire season, headed a free kick from Lucas Causey past Big Red goalkeeper JJ Lamantia in the 19th minute. It was the Red Devils first shot on goal.

“The skill that Parker displays and the attention that he requires from our opponents opens up some things for other guys,” Roberts noted. “He’s a really good player.”

Steubenville nearly drew even in the 27th minute but Joey Rice’s blast from the right side of the box clanked off the far post and caromed away.

Rice came up big in the 42nd minute as the senior denied a shot from Landon Bowers and then swallowed up the rebound attempt from Drew Stimpert. He also leapt high in the air to snag the ball away to deny Stimpert moments later.

Big Red tied things in the 49th minute as Rice made a leaping save to his right, but the ball trickled away and found the right foot of high-scoring Cole Bowers who pounded it home with his left foot. The goal was the 74th of his career, tying with Matt Loot for the program record.

“An unlucky rebound,” Roberts said of the lone Big Red goal. “Talan definitely played lights-out. He was our ‘Man of the Match.’ He really showed up tonight and made some clutch saves.”

Rice was called upon to make 18 saves, some of the highlight reel style, while Lamantia was only needed four times.

“We had a lot more opportunities than they did, but give their goalie credit, he did a heck of a job,” Steubenville head coach Greg Bowers said. “We just couldn’t finish.”

Both head coaches praised their defenses.

“We’ve been priding ourselves on playing strong defense, but against a team like Steubenville it’s hard to do,” Roberts added. “I would be willing to bet Camden Judge ran 10 miles tonight. He’s been averaging about eight-and-a-half or nine a game so far.”

“Gabe Martin did a great job of holding down Parker (Galloway). He got loose one time, but that’s what good players do.”