Scotus soccer beats York

COLUMBUS -- Both Scotus Central Catholic soccer teams were able to overcome York at a windy Wilderness Park in Columbus Tuesday afternoon.

The Class B, No. 10 Shamrock boys had a good day on the offensive end, scoring five goals, but also allowed a few as they overcame the Dukes 5-3.

The No. 6 Shamrock girls had little difficulty putting York away as, after scoring two goals in the first half against the wind, they piled on four more in the second with the wind in their favor to grab a 6-0 victory.

Bill Kurtenbach started things for the boys as he put away a shot unassisted 18 minutes in.

That was followed 13 minutes later by a Jared Ostdiek goal. Ostdiek took the ball down from a York clear attempt in front of the Dukes’ goal and bounced it from his chest down to his left foot, finding the goal on a crossing shot just over the goalie’s reach.

“Attacking-wise we’ve got to be happy with five goals,” Scotus head coach Jon Brezenski said. “That’s the most goals we’ve scored all year.”

York also managed to score in the first half as Chris Gruber hit the back of the net 36 minutes in.

After the half, Scotus once more took the upper hand, scoring two goals in the next 20 minutes. Nick Zarek found Shawn Schumacher for the first goal of the half, and Ostdiek assisted Schumacher for his second goal of the night.

After Dax Becker scored for York in the 64th minute, Schumacher again hit a shot for the Shamrocks, knocking in a ball to complete the hat trick.

“Schumacher’s a husky guy, and he was able to get up over their guys,” Brezenski said. “The other players did a good job of getting the ball to him, and he did a good job of finishing.”

York would hit one more shot, again by Becker at the 73rd minute, before time ran out.

“Defensively, there are things we’ve got to fix,” Brezenski said. “We’d score, and then we’d let them score right back.”

The girls game was handled from the very beginning by the Shamrocks, who put on the pressure by going up 2-0 at the half, and then opened things up after that.

Katie Beiermann scored the first of her two goals right away, and then Sami Spenner followed with a score of her own in the 17th minute.

After that, things calmed down on offense for the Shamrocks for the rest of the half as York began to gain some possession time.

“I think we came out pretty sloppy,” Scotus head girls coach Kevin Stout said. “I’m not quite sure why, though we did come back really late from Gretna (the night before). We’re also light on the bench, so pretty much everybody’s playing 60-70 minutes on the field. York was putting the ball up in the air and sending it long, and that’s what we responded with.”

After the half, the Shamrocks came out with a lot more purpose and used their newfound wind advantage to reel off four more goals. Beiermann, Kelly Zegar and Kortney Bonk all connected for scores, with Bonk beating the Dukes’ keeper twice.

Scotus scorers had a lot of help on the day as every goal was assisted. Beiermann and Whitney Ebel both picked up an assists, and Bonk and Zegar had two apiece.

“We try to get fundamentally better every game. They realized going into halftime that they needed to change things up,” Stout said. “Having the wind at our back didn’t hurt either. It’s almost like we’re getting used to it. We haven’t had one game where we haven’t had 25-30 mph wind.”

Though the offense did take a little while to get on track, the defense was perfect throughout the game and didn’t allow a single shot on goal.

“Our defense has just been phenomenal,” Stout said. “It’s been patchwork, but it’s working. (York) penetrated, but we did a nice job of channeling them back outside and turning aside shots.”

The next game for the girls will be Saturday at the Pius X Invite, where they will face No. 5 Lincoln Pius X in their first game.

“We are lucky enough to get three days of practice in,” Stout said. “I think we’ll do well there. One thing I like is that our freshmen are getting playing time, so they should do well by the end of the season.”

The boys team travels to Pius as well, where it will be facing No. 1 Omaha Skutt in its opening match.

BOYS

York 1 2 -- 3

Scotus (2-3) 2 3 -- 5

n Goals -- York: Dax Becker 2, Chris Gruber; Scotus: Shawn Schumacher 3, Jared Ostdiek, Bill Kurtenbach.

n Assists -- York: None; Scotus: Ostdiek 1.5, Nick Zarek 1.5.

n Shots on goal -- York 11, Scotus 13.

n Saves -- York 3, Scotus 6.

GIRLS

York 0 0 -- 0

Scotus (2-3) 2 4 -- 6

n Goals -- York: None; Scotus: Katie Beiermann 2, Kortney Bonk 2, Sami Spenner, Kelly Zegar.

n Assists -- York: None; Scotus: Bonk 2, Zegar 2, Beiermann, Whitney Ebel.

n Shots on goal -- York 0, Scotus 24.

n Saves -- York 16, Scotus 0.