Greg Frazier
Sports Columnist
Despite expectations from fellow goalkeepers and herself, freshman Sonia Bergfeld took to the pitch to play full time in the first game of the season against Liberty (Wentzville) at Lou Fusz Soccer Park on March 23.
Liberty proved to be a challenging opponent against Webster. The conditions of the game were poor. Medium winds clashed with cold rain on an astro turf to make goalkeeping a significantly confusing experience.
Liberty had possession for most of both halves keeping Bergfeld on her toes throughout.
Senior State champion left-back Anna Divin accompanied Bergfeld in defensive measures against Liberty, having to help prevent many potential goals due to Bergfeld’s lack of confidence.
Divin could only keep back Liberty’s Blue Jays for so long, however, and three balls eventually found the back of the netting.
The second goal began in Bergfeld’s gloves but slipped through to the net. It’s safe to assume that Sonia’s gloves were extremely slippery given the conditions at the game.
Liberty won the game 2-3.
Interestingly enough, freshman Whitley Coltrane started the second game of the season against Oswego East. The Stateswomen won that game 4-1 last Thursday, March 24.
Juniors took over in this match, with Emma Atherton, Zoe Schultz and Gretchen Skoglund all scoring.
Senior Isabel Burke also managed to find the back of the netting. Skoglund appears to be pairing up with Atherton to be leading scorers for the season. Skoglund got the two points for Webster in the Liberty game as well.
It’s still the start of the season and Webster still has no answer for who will replace State champion and 2017 graduate Megan McClure.
Four potential goalkeepers remain. Backup to McClure senior Rebecca DeGreeff, junior Hope Johnson and two freshman, Bergfeld and Coltrane.
Johnson and Bergfeld are similar goalkeepers but they don’t compare to McClure’s height. However, “being short doesn’t matter if you’re still a good goalkeeper,” Johnson said.
Field player and basketball player Coltrane has been introduced to the important position of goalkeeping. However, she maintains to be a field player.
“I’m unsure for whether I’ll be starting, but I’m going to continue to train. It’ll be hard on the team but I think it’s a possibility to go to State if we have someone good in goal,” Coltrane said.
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