Columbus downs Demons on penalty kicks

It is not often that a goalkeeper can make the difference in a girls soccer match, but Columbus' Liana Sweezer was the difference Monday when Washington hosted the visitors.

The easiest way to score a goal in soccer is on a penalty kick but Sweezer stopped four of them, two in the overtime penalty kick phase.

'The penalty kick is so close that it is very hard to react after the kick and get there on time,” Sweezer said. 'We worked a lot on penalty kicks in practice. That helps me to have those repetitions. It teaches me to read their eyes because some girls with their body language, I can tell they are going to kick the opposite direction of their eyes and other girls will just look right at you and I have to make a determination by their body language which direction they're going to kick.”

A penalty kick by Odalyz Valdez gave Columbus the victory after regulation and two overtimes ended with the score knotted at 1-1.

'That game almost gave me a heart attack,” Columbus coach Alfredo Piedra said. 'I thought there was two great teams out there. Anybody would've enjoyed coming to watch this game. Girls worked extremely hard on both sides of the field. It really could've gone either way.”

Columbus took a 1-0 lead with 26 minutes, 41 seconds left in regulation time when Vanessa Mena and Washington goalkeeper Olivia Pacha met at the top of the box and Mena got past her for the score.

Five minutes later, Greta Rothe stole a Columbus throw-in and sent a cross to Trina Griffin, who poked it past Columbus keeper Liana Sweezer to tie it at 1-1.

Four minutes later, Rothe was awarded a PK, but Sweezer made the save.

Sweezer gain stopped a penalty kick with 2 minutes to go in the first overtime.

With both overtimes ended, each team sent five players out for PKs.

Washington hit its first, but two were high and Sweezer made two saves.

Pacha stopped the first Columbus shot and the next was wide. but Aaliyah Santos made one and when Valdez made the next, the fifth kick wasn't necessary.

'Sweezer has been with us four years and every year she has gotten a lot better,” Piedra said. 'She's a very talented keeper and a big part of this team.”

'It feels amazing to get the win because there have been a lot of games where we get to this point and we were not able to win, so it feels very satisfying to get this win,” Sweezer said. 'It is a very positive outcome because sometimes we were not able to pull through when it got to this ending.”

Columbus improves to 6-6 and plays at Mid-Prairie today.

'So far this was the most physical game we have played,” Washington coach protacio Marcelino said. 'We just have to be aggressive, is how we should react to all the shoving. I think we did OK on the penalty kicks but sometimes they can get nervous kicking the penalty kicks and I think that may be what happened to us. It was not a tough loss, it's OK there's always the next game.”

The Demons played Pacha in the field in the first half 'just to do something different.”

Washington are 8-8 after losing 2-1 at Fairfield Thursday. Washington plays at Clear Creek-Amana Thursday.

Ft. Madison 3, Washington 0

In the first round of the postseason, the Washington boys soccer team lost at Iowa City Liberty Monday. Ft. Madison advances to play at Cedar Rapids Xavier.

Iowa Mennonite 5, Grand View Christian 0

At Pella Christian, IMS scored 13 minutes into the match after Louis Etienne's shot bounced off the post and into the path of Toby Chen, who poked the ball into the net for the 1-0 lead. It was 2-0 when Chen sent a through pass to Etienne for the score. Minutes later, Jacob Boller took a pass from Chen, then sent it in to Etienne for the 3-0 halftime lead.

Early in the second half, a Boller assist gave Etienne a hat trick to extend the lead to 4-0. Twelve minutes into the half, Boller intercepted a goal kick, dribbled by two defenders before sending a shot by the goalie to make it 5-0.

IMS moves to 10-4 on the season. IMS returns to action Wednesday at Solon at 5 p.m. facing Clarke (Osceola).