All 11 Columbus East girls soccer seniors were starters on senior night Thursday against Martinsville at BCSC Soccer Complex. Preparing to be introduced are, from left, Emma Christie, Addi Broaddus, Sophie Glick, Ella Garn, Meg Going, Morgan Scott, Cadence Zeser, Paige Loichinger, Kindred Zody, Natasha Armstrong and Jo Conrad.
Submitted photo
With less than 15 minutes left in Thursday night’s girls soccer game, Columbus East was in danger of taking a loss on senior night.
Then, Sophie Glick took over.
The senior scored two goals less than two minutes apart to give the Olympians the lead, and they were able to pull out a 2-1 victory against Martinsville.
“It’s so fantastic,” East coach Grace Manning said. “They’re all stoked. Especially for Sophie, that’s fantastic to win the game for your team.”
The Olympians (5-9) outshot the Artesians 11-3, putting four shots on goal to one for Martinsville (1-12). But that one Artesian shot on goal found the net when Layla Wolff scored in the 28th minute.
East had a few chances in the second half before Glick took a pass from fellow senior Emma Christie at the top of the box, dribbled to her right and fired a shot into the top left corner of the net in the 67th minute.
Glick’s second goal was nearly identical to the first and came in the 68th minute.
“I think we finally figured it out and were able to connect passes and find the through balls and break down their defense, and that allowed us to get shots off,” Glick said.
“I think we really started to communicate a little bit more,” Christie added. “I think we were able to finally work as a cohesive group. In the beginning, we weren’t really working as a cohesive group, and then toward the end, we really started to get it together, and you could really see the difference in how we were playing, especially in the defensive end.”
Christie played the first 15 minutes in goal before moving to the field, and Cara Veach took over in goal. Led by senior center backs Morgan Scott and Cadence Zeser, the Olympians did not allow a shot in the second half.
“I think it’s great,” Zeser said. “It feels really good. Sophie got that first goal, and I think it got our confidence up and made us play well together. I’m just happy that we could pull it out at the end.
“It may not be our best (game), but it’s definitely up there,” she added. “This and Batesville, we really communicated with each other and worked well as a team and were able to not only uplift each other, but keep each other going.”
East has 11 seniors, and all 11 were starters on senior night and were able to contribute to the win.
“I don’t think it really has too much to do with people on the field, as opposed to the mentality we were able to bring in that last bit of time,” Manning said. “They really amped it up. I think sometimes, we’re not able to perform at our highest just because we’re worn down or whatever. But they were able to get that extra push.”
