Staff photo / Brian Yauger Bristol's Jacob Clisby (26) battles with Christian Johnson, left, and Connor Gallagher of Grand Valley during Tuesday’s game in Bristolville.

BRISTOLVILLE — Bristol and Grand Valley have butted heads on the pitch several times over the last few years in some competitive games.

Going into Tuesday’s game, each team knew how important getting on the board first would be. With some real league implications on the line, setting the tone was going to be crucial.

Bristol got the tone-setter it was looking for, scoring three first half goals in a 5-2 victory over the Mustangs.

“We had a tough game against Grand Valley last year,” Panthers coach Cory Schrecengost said. “They came here and beat us 3-0, so we just wanted to make sure we came out and took care of business.”

It started early with sophomore Logan Briggs finding the back of the net twice. Wyatt Clisby scored the team’s third goal, establishing a solid lead early.

But knowing what Grand Valley is capable of, the Panthers didn’t want to let up. Clisby and Kevin Singler each tacked on second half goals.

“It was important to be up 3-0 at the half, but we had to keep it going,” Schrecengost said. “We knew they would come out and they would get a couple goals, they got some good goal scores.

“We’ve been watching them. We’ve been watching film, so we played well the whole game. We did very well.”

Junior Evan Skrtic scored twice in the second half for the Mustangs. They fall to 6-5 on the season.

“We just weren’t locked in,” Mustangs coach Rick Huffman said. “I don’t know if it was just a little bit of the potential of the game with (the league race), but we just didn’t have the right connections tonight. The touches were off, they beat us to the ball, we weren’t moving effectively, our builds were not there, not even close. We were playing kickball, just all out of sorts.

“I’m sure some of it’s a little bit to do with them and their physical presence. I hate to say it’s one of those nights, but it was one of those nights. I’m sure it was a little bit of them, but it was a lot of us. We did not play even close to our best soccer.

Grand Valley gets to stew and let this feeling marinate before getting another shot at the Panthers on Monday.

“Hats off to them,” Huffman said. “Tonight, they got this one. We’ll see what happens on the next one.”

Before its rematch with the Mustangs, Bristol (10-2) plays a different school of Mustangs on Thursday. The Panthers travel to Vienna to face Mathews on Thursday for another important game in regards to the league.

“We’re just holding on and finishing the season out, focusing on one game at a time,” Schrecengost said. “We want to make sure we try to do our best the rest of the way out in the NAC. If we win out in the NAC we tie Badger, and we win (a share of the NAC) for the first time in a long time. We’re just trying to focus on everything to get through the rest of the season with wins, and focus on playing as a team to do it.”