While the rain was a constant in Saturday night’s Hoosier Hills Conference girls soccer showdown, Columbus East and Floyd Central took turns having the wind at their backs.
The Olympians had the wind in the first half and took advantage with a pair of goals. Then, with the wind in its face the second half East limited the previously unbeaten Highlanders to one score to hang on for a 2-1 win.
“This was just an awesome performance by the kids in these horrible conditions,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “The wind definitely was a factor. It helped us in the first half. You have to take advantage of the conditions when you have them and then tough it out when you don’t have them.”
Because of the persistent rain on Friday night and Saturday, the game was moved from the Wigh Soccer Complex to the turf field at East High School.
The Olympians (8-2, 4-0) got on the board in the 10th minute when Breiana Burton took a corner kick that bounced off a defender and right to Sarah Park, who knocked it in.
“I think it was really important because it’s a lot harder going against the wind, so we knew the other team was going to have a lot more momentum, so we had to get that early lead,” Park said.
East added to its lead in the 19th minute. Maya Federle lofted a ball toward the goal that took a high bounce and was carried by the wind over the head of the Highlanders goalkeeper and into the net.
“That was definitely luck working in my favor,” Federle said. “I did not even see it go in. I was hoping somebody would pick it up and shoot, and it ended up going over the keeper.”
The Olympians took six shots in the first half, putting five on goal. Floyd Central took three shots in the half, putting two on goal.
The second half, the Highlanders outshot East 10-1, putting five on goal, to finish with a 13-7 shot advantage.
“It was definitely really high pressured,” Federle said. “The whole team was working so hard to keep them out of our half. Trying to see through the rain, and against a good team, we had to come out hard to win.”
Floyd Central cut the lead in half in the 54th minute on a goal by Katie Yankey. But after that, Karisma Parker and the Olympians defense turned the Highlanders away.
Parker finished with six saves.
“We played very tough defensively,” Schwartzman said. “We did the job when we needed to do it. Floyd is an excellent team, and the second half they controlled the possession quite a bit, but we did what we needed to do.”
East, which was playing its fifth game in nine days, was able to bounce back from Thursday’s 3-1 loss to Class 2A No. 4 Batesville.
Saturday’s game likely decided the HHC championship. Both the Olympians and Highlanders were receiving votes in this week’s Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Class 3A poll.
“This was really big,” Schwartzman said. “This was a huge win, especially coming off of a difficult Batesville game. It’s a great feeling right now.”
Park agreed.
“I think it’s really a big deal because we’ve continued to win the conference, so it’s just something we want to continue every year,” Park said.
