Sophie Glick
A winless Columbus East girls soccer team had gone five games without scoring, so when the Olympians had two breakaways and another point-blank shot saved and saw another go off the post in the first half Tuesday, they might have been thinking, “Here we go again.”
But East finally broke through with a goal late in the first half, then added two more in the second half to post its first win of the season, a 3-0 Hoosier Hills Conference triumph against Bedford North Lawrence.
“Finally,” junior Cadence Zeser said. “I think it definitely gives motivation to other girls to see that we can score multiple goals in one game and get past the defense. I think will definitely motivate the team to play a little bit harder for the next games coming forward, especially conference games.”
Cadence Zeser
Zeser, who had put one off the right post in the 25th minute, broke the ice in the 38th. She gathered the ball near midfield, dribbled in and took a shot that was stopped by Stars keeper Madalyn Mason, but it bounced back to Zeser who put it in the net.
“I normally play defense, so it was definitely frustrating hitting it off the post,” Zeser said. “But it was good to see one go in.”
Junior Sophie Glick scored both second-half goals for the Olympians (1-6, 1-0). She connected in the 58th minute, then finished off a cross from Emma Christie in the 80th and final minute.
“It’s definitely going to be a boost for us,” Glick said. “We’ve been in a losing slump. It definitely shows it’s possible to win.”
East outshot BNL 22-5, putting 13 shots on goal to four for the Stars. Christie played the first half in goal for the Olympians, and Cara Veach played the second half in goal, with both posting two saves.
“They worked hard for it, not just in this game, but they’ve kept working hard in every game we’ve played, and it’s great to see that it finally came to fruition,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “They were able to pass the ball and get opportunities. We had a lot of chances the first half, and their goalie made some excellent saves, but we came through and got a really nice win.
“It gives us confidence,” he added. “It’s really nice to get it under our belt. We still have a lot of tough teams on our schedule, so this is a good build-up.”
