T-L Photo/KIM NORTH ST. CLAIRSVILLE’S Delaney Florence (10) chips the ball forwards during Monday night’s Division II, Region VII Eastern District 2 semifinal against Beaver Local at Wagner Field in Cadiz. Florence had an assist in the match that the Red Devils won, 3-1. Chasing the play is the Beavers’ Chansyn Hoppel (6).

CADIZ — St. Clairsville has had some pretty good girls’ soccer teams in program history, including a Division II regional semifinalist last fall. However, none accomplished what the 2021 squad has.

With their 3-1 victory over Beaver Local in a D-II, Region VII Eastern District 2 semifinal match on the artificial pitch inside Wagner Field, the Red Devils set a program record with their 14th win.

“I think we played, perhaps, our best game offensively in the first half. The passing was incredible. Everyone played the ball really well,” St. Clairsville head coach Wes Stoner advised.

St. Clairsville, the top seed which improved to 14-2-3, dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the 8th-seeded Beavers 13-3 and scoring three times in a 10-minute span. The Red Devils scored on their 6th, 9th and 11th shots of the match.

Senior Emily Thompson got the outburst started in the 18th minute when she hustled down the pitch to head in a free kick by Makenna Booth. Booth sent the ball down the field from deep in her own end and Thompson got behind the last line of defense with her speed.

“That was all due to ET sprinting,” Stoner pointed out. “She sprinted her run like she is supposed to on a free kick. She was just able to get a piece of it over the goalkeeper.”

“Makenna stepped in for Jocelyhnn (Zucco) who couldn’t play today due to an injury, and had a goal and an assist. She had a night. I’m proud of her,” Stoner said of the sophomore defender who has also booted several PATs for the playoff-bound football team. “She works real hard and hasn’t seen much action this year, but she has a powerful foot.”

Five minutes later, sophomore Delaney Florence split a pair of defenders just before reaching the box. She let loose a drive that Beaver Local goalkeeper Hailey Russell knocked away. However, the rebound went right to Alyssa Bodkin and the senior wasted no time in tickling the twine for a 2-0 reading.

“That was a good save by their goalkeeper,” Stoner said of Russell’s stop on Florence. “But, once again, if Alyssa hadn’t worked her butt off to get down there, maybe their defense gets it and we don’t get the goal.”

Booth capped her impressive outing when she sent a laser into the top left corner of the net on a 35-yard free kick in the 28th minute.

Beaver Local avoided being shut out when Jordan Palmer found the net off an assist by Chansyn Hoppel in the 68th minute, something that displeased Stoner.

“We played well defensively the entire game. We just gave them some chances late when the girls kind of knew it was over and slacked off a little, but that is something we can’t have and it will be discussed tomorrow and Wednesday in practice,” Stoner stressed.

St. Clairsville peppered Russell with 20 shots. She charted 11 saves. The Red Devils’ Rileigh Wood was only called upon to stop one of the Beavers’ five shots.

Not only did the Red Devils establish a program record for wins in a season, the 5-member senior class of Bodkin, Thompson, Haven Brak, Gracie Gardner and Jaylyn Gray became the winningest class in program history with 48 triumphs, one more than a year ago.

St. Clairsville look to make it back-to-back Eastern District titles when it faces third-seeded Steubenville on Thursday on the artificial pitch inside Kettlewell Memorial Stadium in Wintersville at 6:30 p.m. Big Red blanked No. 5 Zanesville, 3-0, at Red Devil Stadium, also on Monday night.