By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Greece Olympia girls’ soccer coach Sal Butera wants to see Sarah Tawaf take more shots.
For one game at least the Spartans junior midfielder accommodated her coach’s request.
Tawaf scored four goals, all in the first half, as host Olympia erased an early deficit to beat crosstown rival Greece Arcadia, 5-2 on Thursday.
“I got set up really well by a bunch of my teammates,” she said. “You got to take the shots.”
Trailing 1-0 after an early goal, Tawaf leveled the match in the 11th minute. Five minutes later, she delivered an Olimpico when she scored directly off a corner kick to give the Spartans a lead they did not surrender.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
“Sarah is a workhorse,” Butera said. “A lot of times she shies away from shooting. She should shoot more at the proper time…She probably could have had six goals today.”
She intercepted a clearing attempt and found the opposite netting from the right flank for a 3-1 lead and capped her scoring with an assist from Leea Godfrey.
28’ Sarah Tawaf, opposite side netting for the natural hat trick. @Oly_Athletics 3-1. @secvgirlssoccer pic.twitter.com/KIl4Id2lDU
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 21, 2023
Having won at Arcadia last Friday, the Spartans swept the regular season series with the Titans. In between those games, they dropped a 2-1 decision to Batavia in Monroe County Division IV matchup.
“The drive from last game,” Tawaf said of her motivation. “Last game we had a good start, but I wasn’t going to let that happen again no matter what happened in the second half. We had to take advantage of all the opportunities we got.”
16’ Sarah Tawaf from the left corner flag for the Olimpico. Tawaf has two goals. @Oly_Athletics 2-1 over @ArcadiaGsoccer pic.twitter.com/TT85ogLAHc
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 21, 2023
Tawaf scored twice in Olympia’s 3-nil win over rival Greece Odyssey to start the season, but had only contributed to the offensive production once in the past three games. She nearly doubled her season output on Thursday and now has nine goals.
The win was the fourth in the past five games for Olympia (6-2-0).
“This year we have a lot more discipline,” Tawaf said. “The girls know each other, better. We’ve been doing a lot of team-bonding. We’re really working on passing instead of just focusing on shots. We’re really working on the chemistry among us.”
Haylee Falco finishes it off. @Oly_Athletics 5 @ArcadiaGsoccer 2 FT @secvgirlssoccer pic.twitter.com/9srMkxbsAB
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 21, 2023
Bella Fedele opened the scoring for Greece Arcadia.
“We knew that beating them 4-2 there, they were going to come out hard,” Butera said. “They caught us flat-footed.”
Olivia Hyde also scored for the Titans.
Haley Falco rounded out the scoring for Olympia with an assist from Kyleigh Bathe.
“The girls worked hard the whole game,” Butera said. “We tried a new formation since we lost to Aquinas (September 5th). They adapted to that new formation really well. They’re helping each other out.”
Olympia travels to play at Bishop Kearney/Archangel on Saturday. An 11 AM kickoff is scheduled.
Arcadia (1-7-0) will play at Geneva on Monday. A 6:30 PM start is slated.
Leave a Reply