Wildcats withstand Demons

A thrilling goal sent the Columbus and Washington girls? soccer teams into overtime on Tuesday afternoon.

In the opener for both teams, Washington senior Kayla Schindler netted her second goal of the game in the 78th minute to tie the game up at 2.

The Demons, who trailed 2-0 until the 64th minute of the match, seemed to have all the momentum going into halftime, but the Wildcats didn?t flinch.

Columbus junior Tania Martinez capitalized on an opportunity only a few minutes into the overtime period and became the third Wildcat to put in a goal in the game, as Columbus started off the year with a 3-2 overtime victory over the Demons.

?This is our first time beating Washington and the girls are pumped,? Columbus girls? soccer head coach Gabe Benitez said. ?From day one, they wanted this game. Last year we didn?t get to play them and we had a lot of girls step up from last year.?

Winning the first game of the season is a big step for the Wildcats, who lost their first four games of the year last season.

?As a coach, coming in and winning the first one is great,? Benitez said. ?We start off positive, unlike last year, when we didn?t win until the middle of the season, but as soon as we got that first win, we turned it around. Winning that first game is very important.?

For the Demons, things turned around in the second half, after Columbus spent much of the first half on the attack.

?They communicated a lot better in the second half and they put their afterburners on,? Washington head coach Kyle Collins said. ?We did run into the wind all first half, and it?s tough to move into it, but that second half we came out mentally prepared and that opens up the game.?

Despite taking an overtime loss, Collins said he was happy with his team?s effort and he is focused at Monday?s home opener against Clear Creek Amana now.

?This is a really good Columbus team and our girls played hard,? Collins said. ?Moving forward, you figure out the little things you can adjust for Monday?s game and go on from there.?

The Wildcats went on the offensive early and often, and a free kick opportunity at the 14-minute mark for junior Melissa Maldonado put Columbus up 1-0.

In the second half, Columbus didn?t wait long to add to the lead, as Alexis Santos put in a goal at the 45-minute mark of the game.

?We were aggressive from the get-go,? Benitez said. ?Our communication was right there, but the one thing we didn?t practice was shooting. We had about two or three that we should have had.?

After that point, Washington rallied with strong attacks, and eventually got on the board with Schindler?s first goal at the 64th minute of the game, before she tied the game up at the 78-minute mark.

The Demons will look to get back on the winning track on Monday against Clear Creek Amana (ranked No. 4 in Class 1A), while Columbus will take on Mediapolis on Monday.