Three sophomores took control of the scoring for the Olympia boys soccer team Monday night in a 3-1 win against Battle Ground at Ingersoll Stadium.
Brett Bartsch opened the match with a goal in the 16th minute off of an assist from Pyke Celedonia, and the Bears held a 1-0 lead at halftime. Battle Ground tied the game in the 55th minute before Brody Magaro responded with a go-ahead goal from another assist by Celedonia in the 60th minute.
Six minutes later, Lincoln Camargo-Herrick put the exclamation point on the Bears victory with a goal, assisted by Stefan Lucenko. After recording just four shots on goal in the first half, Olympia logged a whopping 20 in the second half.
“I personally think that we found our groove and our tempo. We had a slow start for the first 40,” Olympia head coach Ty Johnson said.
Goalkeeper Declan Borden collected four saves for the Bears, two in each half.
Olympia’s (3-0-2) final non-league contest is scheduled for Thursday night against Union in Camas before South Puget Sound League action kicks off next week against Puyallup on March 31. Johnson has been impressed by how his young players have stepped up as the team deals with injuries and hopes they continue to play a factor as the Bears head into league play.
“This has given an opportunity to allow players in the depth chart to get more experience so that as we get deeper into the season and into district and potentially state, we have a deeper bench to give guys breathers,” he said. “It’s challenging sometimes missing players, but it gives others opportunities, and players have been stepping up.”
