Sometimes, a two-goal lead isn’t enough.
That’s what the Olympic boys soccer team learned Tuesday against Bremerton, overcoming a 2-0 halftime deficit en route to a 2-2 tie with rival Knights at Silverdale Stadium.
Bremerton forward Matt Olson, who leads the Olympic League in goals scored with nine, continued his blistering run, netting two goals in the first 32 minutes of the game to give his team a 2-0 lead. Olson’s scores came over a five-minute span, the second goal coming on a penalty kick with eight minutes to play before halftime.
But neither Olson nor his teammates would score again.
“I told them at halftime, ‘A 2-0 lead is nothing,’” said Bremerton coach Randy Lund. “When a team gets that first goal, there’s a momentum change.”
The Trojans secured that momentum four minutes into the second half with a Nils Telgman goal, assisted by Phi Phan.
Twenty-two minutes later, in the 66th minute, BHS’ Eli Chastain drug Olympic’s Paul Brumm to the ground inside the box after Brumm beat the Knight defense. Chastain was flagged, setting up a penalty kick, which Brumm converted to tie the game.
Neither team scored over the final 15 minutes.
“They have to come away from that game thinking they dodged a bullet,” Lund said of Olympic. “I think we’re pretty evenly matched, but we outplayed them.”
Olympic goalkeeper Thomas Bryan, an all-leaguer last season, notched 23 saves to keep the Trojans in the game. The Knights also had a number of near-misses, hitting the post once.
“He had some saves that most keepers wouldn’t have made. He won that game for them,” Lund said, referring to Bryan. “We just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.”
But Lund said there were plenty of positives to take away from Tuesday’s game. Not only did Olson score two more goals, but the Knights out-shot Olympic and had six corner kicks to Olympic’s one.
Tuesday
at Olympic 2, Bremerton 2
First half—1, Bre, Matt Olson, 27th. 2, Bre, Olson (PK), 32nd.
Second half—3, Oly, Nils Telgman (Phi Phan), 44th. 4, Oly, Paul Brumm (penalty kick), 66th.
