CLAYTON — Nasir Eloi netted pair of goals Tuesday night to help lead the Northmont boys varsity soccer team to a 5-2 victory over Fairmont in the first conference match of the season for both schools.

The Firebirds were ranked No. 20 in the state by MaxPreps and No. 4 in the Dayton area by the Miami Valley Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association. Northmont was ranked No. 88 in the state by MaxPreps and No. 5 in the Dayton area by MVSSCA.

Both of Eloi’s goals came in the first half along with a goal by Nevin Smith and an “own goal” by Fairmont to put the Thunderbolts up 4-1 at the half.

Chris Powell scored with 21:07 remaining to boost the lead to 5-1. The Firebirds scored with 1:01 remaining to make the final 5-2.

Timmy Hoffman and Will Meilstrup scored for Fairmont off assists by Owen Castle and Grey Danner.

Elliott Moyer had three assists and Smith one for Northmont.

“Fairmont is a very good team, very sound, and their center back Will Meilstrup is a fantastic player and deserves all the credit he gets,” said Northmont coach Bob Brown. “They are well-coached and move the ball well, it was just our night.”

With the victory Northmont improved to 3-1-0 and 1-0-0 in Greater Western Ohio Conference play while Fairmont fell to 3-1-0 and 0-1-0.

The Thunderbolts lone loss was a 3-1 defeat against Tippecanoe, ranked No. 1 among Division II schools by the MVSSCA.

“We’ve been playing pretty well, we just haven’t been able to take advantage of chances we’ve created,” Brown added. “Tonight, we obviously did a little more of that, which was good. We got ahead early. Against Tipp we came out flat and they took advantage of it.”

Northmont will face Sidney, Wayne and Butler in its next three matches.