Sydney Berkemeier
Columbus East broke its scoring drought Saturday evening, but the Olympians single goal wasn’t enough to overcome one of the state’s top small-school programs.
Class A No. 3 Park Tudor scored twice in the first half and once in the second half to post a 3-1 win against the Olympians.
East, which had gone six halves without a goal, cut the Panthers’ lead to 2-1 in the 61st minute. Nadia Harris took a throw-in from Norah Dwenger and sent a cross that Sydney Berkemeier sent into the net.
“We got a very nice goal,” East coach Ilya Schwartzman said. “I thought Sydney had a fantastic finish on that goal.”
Park Tudor, however, thwarted the Olympians’ comeback attempt when Mia Rettig scored in the 68 minute to push the lead back to two goals.
The Panthers’ first-half goals came from Lizzie Miller in the 25th minute and Dejanae Butler in the 30th minute.
Park Tudor outshot East 14-11, putting 11 shots on goal to three for the Olympians. East’s Anna Liimatta recorded seven saves, and midfielder Maggie Mathews had a non-goalkeeper save.
“I thought the first half, we kind of looked fatigued, but the second half, we showed character, and we played stronger and faster and put in a pretty decent half,” Schwartzman said. “The passing was much better and more accurate, and we created opportunities.”
The Olympians (1-2-2) were missing starting center back Alexis Spurgeon, who was out with an injury.
Schwartzman hopes Berkemeier’s goal will give his team something to build on heading into games Monday at Franklin and Thursday at Class A No. 4 Providence.
“That does build on the confidence,” Schwartzman said. “We’re a very good offensive team. We just kind of went into a little funk the last few games, but we’re capable of putting big numbers on the board. We just need to connect better and finish our opportunities.”
