Girls High School Soccer

Columbia Central girl’s soccer hosted the Blackhawks of Leslie on Wednesday evening in a showdown of two of the top teams in the Cascades and the game lived up to the hype from the opening whistle.

The first half was back and forth early, each team looking to gain an offensive advantage but finding no solutions to the opposing defense.  At halftime the score was still knotted at zero’s on the board.

The second half saw more of the same until the final action packed 15 minutes.  Leslie would score first when a ball was crossed into the Columbia box and an unfortunate collision between the goalkeeper and defender allowed the ball to pop loose and in front of goal where a Leslie player would tap it in to break the scoreless deadlock.

Columbia would respond about five minutes later when freshman Molly Sierer received a lay back pass from Mara Henry which she shot high and far into the back post to tie the game back up.  Columbia would take some momentum from that goal and score again a few minutes later to take the lead when Junior captain Peyton Huston sent a ball through to Mara Henry who scored past a throng of Blackhawk defenders.  The lead would last only a few minutes for the Golden Eagles however as a handball in the box led to a Blackhawk penalty kick to tie the game.

“Leslie was the better team over-all in the first half I thought.”  Said Columbia head coach Andy Hosmer.  “They were quicker to the ball, more organized and patient with their passing.  We weren’t really ready.  But in the second half I was proud of the way our ladies battled and figured out Leslie’s passing game.  It was tough to give away that late lead, but they are a good team and it was the two (current) top teams in the league going toe to toe and a lot of tough soccer.”

Leslie is now 5-1-1 overall and 3-0-1 in the Cascades while Columbia is 5-0-1 and 3-0-1 in the Cascades.  With Manchester’s victory last night over Michigan Center, Leslie and Columbia remain tied atop the standings in first while Michigan Center and Manchester are tied for second at 3-1 each.