Columbus East junior Norah Dwenger had a great chance to break the scoreless tie in the second half but her shot from the right side deflected right off the far post.
Dwenger got a second chance and made it count.
In the 66th minute, Dwenger’s boot floated high toward the goal and out of reaching arms of Franklin senior goalkeeper and Butler commit Addie Marshall for the goal. It ended up making the difference in a 1-0 girls soccer victory Monday night at the BCSC Soccer Complex.
“It was a tough, tough win,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “I thought the defense played stellar. Norah Dwenger had a phenomenal game. She was aggressive, she possessed the ball well and she had phenomenal crosses. She had two great finishes with one hitting the post. (Franklin has) an excellent goalie, a D-I commit, and she’s great.”
The match was delayed at the start due to lightning that came to the area in the late afternoon that delayed and eventually canceled the JV game. Rain was present on-and-off for most of the varsity match.
In the first half, the Olympians (2-3) controlled much of the possession at the offensive end. They attempted several shots and got a lot of corner kick opportunities but couldn’t break through with a goal.
“We had our chances, and we could have, with a little better luck, put a few away in the first half that didn’t materialize,” Schwartzman said. “The girls persevered. This was a tough game to play mentally… We played hard, we played tough, especially in the second half.”
The win was a big confidence booster for East, which has had close decisions not fall in their favor in their previous three games against Roncalli, Class 3A No. 5 Bloomington South and 3A No. 6 Columbus North. The Olympians will look to carry on their momentum when they take on Class A No. 6 Providence on Thursday, which will be East’s senior night.
“It was good to come out ahead on this one. A positive result is always a confidence builder,” Schwartzman said. “There’s a lot of talent on this team. They are still trying to learn how to play with each other, and I think this is a step in the right direction.”
