Goalie's effort can't keep Palmer from loss

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

PALMER - Palmer High goalkeeper Trent Berberich was easily the busiest player on the Colony High School field Monday night.

When the opposing Colony Knights were not taking a shot on the Palmer goal, they were setting up a shot. And with as much action as there was around the Palmer net, Berberich allowed just two Colony goals.

But those two scores proved to be enough as the Knights earned a 2-1 Northern Lights Conference victory over the Moose.

"The match could have been 10-1 as easily as it was 2-1," Palmer head coach Tom Harrison said.

Colony applied the pressure early and its offensive force was consistent.

"I think we did a fairly decent job of controlling the play. But we had a problem finishing," Colony head coach Jeremy Johnson said. "Berberich did a really good job."

Berberich used his 6-foot-5 frame and a little luck to keep Colony off the scoreboard in the first half. Early in the game, Colony senior Teemu Maki put a shot off the crossbar and teammate Dan Camargo fired a hard shot on the rebound. Berberich stretched out to make a finger-tip deflection, and quickly had to jump back up and pull the ball out of the air and away from a charging Colony striker - Ian Walton.

After Berberich beat Walton on a pair of 1-on-1 opportunities early in the second half, the junior redeemed himself and gave Colony the 1-0 lead. Walton put a hard, point blank, shot on the right side of the Palmer goal during the 13th minute of play in the second half, and Berberich made the save. Less than a minute later, Walton had another chance on goal, this time going left, and put the shot past Berberich.

"He did a good job of creating a little space for himself and cut back to his stronger foot. It was a good solid shot," Johnson said.

Ten minutes later, Dan Camargo gave the Knights a 2-0 lead. Camargo drove the ball to the face of the Moose goal and, after momentarily losing possession, the senior recovered and slipped the shot past Berberich.

Harrison said the reason for the abundance of Colony opportunities and the lack of Palmer chances was the play in the midfield.

"We were broken in the midfield and that put a huge amount of pressure on our backline," Harrison said. "They were able to break through it numerous times."

Palmer broke through and cut the deficit to 2-1 with four minutes remaining in regulation. Devon Conroy gained possession for the Moose on a breakaway and Colony goalkeeper Jake Williams ventured out to challenge him. Conroy beat Williams on the play and put a slow-rolling shot into the right side of the

net.

"He's got nearly unlimited athleticism," Harrison said of Conroy. "I don't think there's many players in the state, let alone the region, who can run with him on a breakaway. With his speed and athleticism, he creates opportunities out of nothing."