Only 67 seconds.
That was all that Alana Dwenger needed to get Columbus East going during its girls soccer season opener against Bloomington North.
Dwenger completed a haul, which is scoring four goals in a game, resulting in an 8-1 season opening victory Wednesday night at Richard Wigh Soccer Complex.
“I think we had a a great start to the game, scoring right in the first two minutes,” Dwenger said. “We got the energy up. We just worked together. We were hitting each other well, and I think the momentum from the first half continued into the second half, and it worked really well, which was great.”
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The offensive attack came early and often for the Olympians, and the Cougars defense had trouble stopping it. In the first half, the ball stayed mostly on East’s offensive half of the pitch, making goalkeeper Anna Liimatta among the limited spectators for much of the first half.
It didn’t matter much because in the 10th minute, the Olympians doubled their lead when Chloe Miller took a shot from around 15 yards out, with her twin sister, Abby Miller, credited with the assist to make it 2-0. The Olympians scoring didn’t stop there because in the 22nd minute, Abby Miller netted a goal to make it 3-0. The score stayed that way heading into halftime.
“The ladies came out really well and played very good quality soccer with good passing and good distribution,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “Our pressure was good, and we got a lot of balls in the middle. We really took it to them, especially in the first half, but we maintained our intensity throughout the game, so that was very pleasant to see.”
In the second half Dwenger netted her second goal of the game in the 44th minute to make it 4-0. A few minutes later, in the 48th minute, a penalty was called on the Cougars that led to a penalty kick. Dwenger took the kick to complete the hat trick and extend the lead to 5-0.
Even though the Cougars trailed big, they started to gain some momentum, and it showed when Bloomington North ended the potential shutout in the 56th minute when Bella Winkler scored to make it 5-1.
Dwenger completed the haul, Sydney Berkemeier added a goal, and Chloe Miller netted her second goal for the Olympians in the later stages of the second half.
“(Dwenger) is obviously a very outstanding player, and we’re expecting great things from her, and I think she is expecting that from herself,” Schwartzman said. “In every team sport, every player contributes and every player has a role, and she has a huge role. I know she puts a lot of pressure on herself to execute, and she had a phenomenal game.”
The Olympians host Roncalli on Saturday, which will be senior day.
