By Harry Lichtman
BETHESDA — The 2018 MPSSAA Girls Soccer Class 4A Playoffs began Thursday night for many schools. One of the first-round games featured the Einstein Titans facing the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Barons at Walter Johnson High School, with the Barons coming out on top for a 5-0 shutout.
“I’m always happy about a victory,” said B-CC head coach Rob Kurtz. “But I’m really impressed with what Einstein’s program and all the things they’ve improved so incredibly these last couple years, their coach doing an incredible job.”
The number four-seeded Barons and number five-seeded Titans were competing in a part of the bracket that includes other Montgomery County schools, including Churchill, Wheaton, WJ, and number-one seed Whitman.
Just 90 seconds into the contest, B-CC was in for a dominant showing when junior forward Caroline Holland scored on a breakaway goal to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.
Holland also had an assist much later in the half when she fed the ball to junior defender Samaya Bernardo, who booted the ball past Einstein’s goalkeeper sophomore Maya Ziselberger to extend the lead to 2-0.
The Lady Barons added another goal right before the half ended, when junior midfielder Amelia Rehrig netted one off a rebounded save from a free kick.
B-CC’s defense also stepped up as they were able to press the Lady Titans hard and take back possession of the ball many times. Einstein was not even able to attempt a shot on goal the entire half. They did, however, have two in the second.
“I just think we got unlucky,” said Titans head coach Jeffrey Myers. “They got a good call go their way. I don’t think the score kind of reflected how well we played. We also had a couple chances that we barely just missed.”
Rehrig’s second goal of the game also came off a rebounded save early in the second half, while Bernardo’s shot sailed into the net for her second goal as well, with 11 minutes left.
Kurtz has been really impressed with his two players, who each put up two goals during the game. “Samaya and Amelia had great seasons,” said Kurtz. “They’re huge leaders for us. Samaya’s transition up to the outside four, which has been great for her, as she’s a true center back.”
All in all, the Barons proved too dominant for Einstein as they took control of their scoring opportunities and shot the ball on goal many times during each half.
With the win, Bethesda-Chevy Chase advances to the next round, in which they will face the best team in the County, the Whitman Vikings, on their home field on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
“Whitman’s the perennial power of the county,” said Kurtz. “We’ve had some great battles with them. We’re going to get Jessie Gomez and Greta [Farkas] back healthy. They’ve been out for the last couple weeks.”
On the other side of things, Einstein’s season may be over, but Myers said he still feels pretty good about his team. “One thing is that we always keep fighting,” he said. “There’s never a time we put our heads down in any game. Just trying to fight to the end every time.”
