By Doug La Rocque
The Annual New Lebanon High School Soccer Tournament was the highlight of this past week for both the Boys and Girls teams, with each squad finishing in third place.[private] Both teams lost in the opening round to Mt. Everett of Sheffield, Massachusetts.
The Boys fell by a 3-0 score, with Berlin keeper Sam Mikit recording 20 saves for the Mountaineers. The game was scoreless through the first half, with the Eagles finding the back of the net three times in the closing half.
The Girls were also blanked in their opener, 1-0.
Saturday, both teams came back to post victories, the Boys defeating Taconic Hills, a district covering the eastern portions of Columbia County, on two goals by Ryan Willis. Anthony Santon set up Willis in the first half to give the Mountaineers the lead, but the Titan’s Kolby Clegg tied the game with 23 minutes’ left. The only goal in the second half belonged to Berlin, with Tyler Kellar setting up Willis at the 18-minute mark.
Coach Art Schmich had high praise for his keeper Mikit, who he said saved the victory with two outstanding one hand deflections as the Titans made a late game push.
First Varsity Goal For Young Rachael Bortnick
The Girls rebounded in the consolation game as well, with a 6-1 victory over the New Lebanon Tigers.
Jewel Pietrzak continued to dominate play, scoring 5 of the 6 goals, but the spotlight was on the eighth grader Bortnick, who showed why she made the Varsity Team at such a young age.
Coach Fleda Berschwinger believes she will be a star for the team for many years. Berschwinger tells The Eastwick Press she likes the way the team is developing – “they are learning to trust each other out on the field.” The Girls took on Emma Willard at the Troy School’s field Monday night. The private prep school is often the class of the Central Hudson Valley League, handing the Mountaineers an 8 to 1 loss. Again Jewel Pietrzak scored Berlin’s only goal on a long kick from the side of the net that bent its way past the defenders and the outreached hands of the Jesters’ keeper.
The Lady Mountaineers now sport a 2-3 record, with two of those losses coming against much larger schools, those being Emma Willard and Cambridge. Their league record is 1-1.
The battle for the keeper’s job appears to have gone to Junior Haley Maxon, at least for now. Maxon only allowed two goals during the New Lebanon tournament, and Coach Berschwinger said there was not much she could do about the shots that got past her in the Emma Willard game.
The Boy’s record now stands at 2-1, they had their first two games either postponed or changed to a scrimmage. Their league record is 1-0.[/private]