For most of the first half Monday night, Bloomington South couldn’t get anything past Columbus East goalkeeper Karisma Parker.
But after turning back the Panthers 10 times in the first 36 minutes, Bloomington South finally broke through in the 37th. Emi McClaine bended in a corner kick from the left side, and that would be the only goal in a 1-0 Panther victory.
“That was kind of a freakish goal,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “It’s very unfortunate to lose a game on a goal like that.”
Bloomington South (4-1-1) outshot the Class 3A No. 19 Olympians (1-1-1) 14-5 in the first half and 21-10 for the game. The Panthers put 12 shots on goal to East’s six.
The Olympians allowed only one shot on goal in the second half, and Parker finished with 11 saves.
“I thought overall, we played very well defensively, and we played our hearts out really, and did a good job containing their speed,” Schwartzman said. “When we possessed the ball and distributed it accurately, I thought we created a lot of chances. We could have taken more shots on goal when we had the opportunity and didn’t pull the trigger. Otherwise, it was a pretty good, even game.”
East’s best scoring opportunity came in the 56th minute, when Abby Miller took a shot from just inside the box. Bloomington South keeper Kristen Morgan dove to her left to get a hand on the ball and knock it away.
That would be as close as the Olympians would get.
“The first 20 minutes, I thought we controlled the game pretty well,” Schwartzman said. “We were pressing them, and we were working the ball around them and didn’t capitalize on a couple opportunities. But they came strong the second 20 of the first half and did play better than we did. But the second half, I thought the energy level was much better, and I thought we pressured them much better and caused them to make a lot of mistakes.”
