With inclement weather throughout the day Wednesday causing the Richard Wigh Soccer Complex to close, the Columbus East girls soccer team was forced to open its season on the football field at Stafford Field.
Not letting that move faze them, the Olympians shut out visiting Bloomington North 4-0.
“It’s a game. Basically we talked about being ready mentally and getting the jitters out of the way and playing our style of soccer. I thought they did an outstanding job,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said of the team’s adjustment to playing on the turf instead of grass.
The Olympians were aggressive coming out of the gate, taking seven shots on goal in the first half, compared to just two from the Cougars.
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In the 19th minute, Elena Stoughton began the scoring for East off an assist from Alana Dwenger. Elena’s sister Lindsey Stoughton scored the second goal 13 minutes later.
Dwenger continued her strong play in the second half, tallying both Olympian goals in the 53rd and 74th minutes. Annie Bastian assisted on the final goal.
“We just wanted to go all out the first game,” Dwenger said. “We lost last year to this team, and we didn’t want that to happen again.”
Karisma Parker held strong between the posts for East, saving all five shots that came her way.
“We shut down a very good team,” Schwartzman said. “We played very tough defensively, and we created a lot of chances. Overall, a very very solid performance.”
