Saturday morning’s battle for first place in the Hoosier Hills Conference girls soccer race came down to a matter of inches.
Or better yet, a matter of perspective.
By Columbus East’s coach Ilya Schawartzman’s view, Addy Galarno’s shot that hit the inside of the left post in the 53rd minute crossed the goal line. But from the referee’s vantage point, the entire ball did not cross the line.
As a result, the Olympians had to settle for a 1-1 tie with New Albany.
East outshot the Bulldogs 26-10. The Olympians put 12 shots on goal to five for New Albany.
“One (of East’s shots) was a goal that the referees totally missed,” Schwartzman said. “The other opportunities, we just should have finished. We created a lot of great chances. I thought our midfield played very strong and was creating a lot of opportunities. We just didn’t finish the chances we created.”
The Olympians’ lone score came on an own goal in the 34th minute.
Alana Dwenger crossed the ball into the box to Kamebry Wagner, but when a defender tried to clear the ball, it went into the net.
The Bulldogs answered with a goal from Londyn Riley in the 45th minute.
New Albany threatened to score twice early in the game. But Jenny Bastian came out to make kick saves on point-blank shots in the ninth and 13th minutes.
“I thought Jenny came off of the line really well and had a couple of spectacular saves and definitely kept us in the game,” Schwartzman said. “I thought she had a very good game.”
East is now 6-4-2 and 4-0-1 in the HHC, while New Albany is 5-3-2 and 3-1-1. The Olympians lead Floyd Central by a half-game and New Albany by a full game with two conference games to play.
“We’re still in control of the conference, which is a very positive thing,” Schwartzman said.
