Berlin Soccer Teams Kick Off Wasaren League Play

Everyone in the Berlin School Community knew stepping up into the Wasaren League this year would be tough, and the results of the opening week of play proved that.  Both the Boys and Girls teams traveled to Cropseyville to open play on Tuesday August 29 against one of the league’s perennial soccer powers, the Tamarac Bengals.  According to Coach Art Schmich, the Mountaineers applied pressure throughout the first half, but surrendered two goals on counter attacks by the Bengals.  The scenario repeated itself in the second half, and despite strong defensive efforts by Anthony Stanton and Seiji Akera, Tamarac again scored twice to post a 4-0 win.  The Girl’s team went down by the same margin, with some defensive breakdowns again the reason for the Tamarac goals.

Both teams returned to the field last Thursday, August 31 against the Greenwich Witches, and while both teams were able to put the ball into the net, it was not enough to post wins.  The Boys scored first in the contest with Tyler Kellar scoring off a nice feed from Seiji Akera.  Greenwich however would counter with two first half tallies.  The second half belonged to the Witches, as they would score three more times, one of those a penalty kick.  Ryan Willis would score late in the game for Berlin, again on a pass from Seiji Akera.  Viktor Gerkman made 20 saves in the Berlin net, but the Mountaineers fell by a 5-2 score.  The Girls had a much closer game, dropping the contest by a 2-1 margin.  It was again some defensive breakdowns that led to the Greenwich scores.  Greenwich jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but Allison Ryder tied the game for Berlin.  A second half score stood up for Greenwich as they posted the win.