By Jordan J. Michael

BERNE –– Soccer goals are rarely scored directly from a corner kick. It happened twice in Berne on Monday.

The Berne-Knox-Westerlo girls’ soccer team was beaten by two direct corner kicks made by Jennette Webb of the Fort Plain team. The second goal was a carbon copy of the first. The final score was 2 to 0.

“I’ve seen a player score directly off a corner kick only once in all the games I’ve officiated,” said one of the referees. “Now I’ve seen it twice in one game, by the same player. This is unbelievable.”

BKW’s head coach, Coriellen Travis, had never seen goals like that before. “They were fantastic goals, curving into the top corner of the goal,” she said. “I have a really great goalie and I think the first one caught her off guard. Seeing it go in the second time was strange.”

Webb’s first corner-kick goal came with 4:45 remaining in the first half. The score was the climax of a hard-fought half between the two teams. BKW had chances to score and the ball was being kicked all over the field.

“Fort Plain has a strong offense, but we have a fast mid-field that gave them some trouble,” Travis said.

Neither team was handling the ball particularly well, which led to many out of bounds balls and corner kicks. “My team wasn’t stepping to the ball and they know that they weren’t,” said Travis.

The Bulldogs had already lost to Fort Plain this season during a tournament at the beginning of the season. “I think my girls were holding back because we already lost to them,” said Travis. “Holding back isn’t going to win you a soccer game.”

BKW continued to battle for possession in the second half and had a few more chances to score. “I only have four seniors on this team and a lot of my players are still learning,” said Travis. “When we’re on, we’re really on and when we’re off, we’re really off.”

Webb put in another corner kick for Fort Plain with 35:19 left in the second half, stunning all the onlookers. It was the exact same goal as before and she had a look of disbelief on her face. The score was now 2-0.

The game was mostly penalty-free and BKW’s Marian Bates had a nice shot towards the end of the game, but missed high. Bulldog fans were left wondering how those corner kicks went in.

The Bulldogs won their last game against Canajoharie and had a 2-1 loss to Class C powerhouse Schoharie on Sept. 15. “We’re playing good soccer for a young team,” said Travis.

“I have a handful of players coming back next year,” said Travis. “They’ll be that much better, so watch out!”