Class 3A No. 10 Castle took advantage of Columbus East miscues early, and that gave the Knights an early lead in Saturday afternoon’s girls soccer matchup.
Once the Olympians settled down, they got their flow and rhythm back in motion. East picked up a goal in the second half, but the early hole was too deep to climb out of and the Olympians suffered a 3-1 loss.
“I think they felt a little bit more comfortable in the second half,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “I thought in the second half, they came out and played very, very strong and well. We had a lot of combinations. A lot of times we connected well, created some really good chances. We capitalized on one, and we had a couple more we could have capitalized on.”
Castle got on the scoreboard in the sixth minute when the Knights got off a corner kick that took several deflections off players in the box until the ball came right to Maddi Mosby, and her touch and kick on the ball went into the net to give Castle the 1-0 lead.
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The Olympians (2-4) started to control the possession more following the initial Knights goal. East had a couple opportunities, but weren’t able to convert a goal.
Instead, Castle struck again in the 18th minute when Emmy Higgins possessed the ball on the right side of the goal box. She took a touch and made the turn, and her shot was near perfect at the top of the far post to put the Knights ahead 2-0.
The Olympians almost got on the scoreboard right before the first half ended in the 35th minute, when Nadia Harris made a touch pass just outside the center of the goal to Alana Dwenger from the right side, but her shot was just wide of the far post, and Castle held onto a 2-0 halftime lead.
East controlled the possession more in the second half, and was finally awarded when a ball was kicked over Dwenger and the Knight defenders. Dwenger won the race to kick it past Castle goalkeeper Annabelle Lansdale to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Olympians, the score was short-lived. Jordan Coon fired a laser from just outside the goal box and out of the reach of East goalkeeper Anna Liimatta to give the Knights the 3-1 cushion needed to close out the game.
“The season is still young,” Schwartzman said. “I’m pleased with where we are, even though our record is not. We’ve played some of the top teams in the state and played them well, including today. Castle is an excellent team, and I thought we really played them well for a majority of the game.”
