Boys' varsity soccer falls to Bulldogs in heartbreaker

BLAZER STADIUM, Sept. 27–

Attempting to rebound from an overtime loss against Walter Johnson, the boys' varsity soccer team (3-4-0) lost in overtime once again, but this time to the Churchill Bulldogs (4-0-0) by a score of 2-1. The game was very physical and included multiple yellow cards.

The Blazers started the game strong, but lost momentum towards the middle of the first half. Coach John Haigh believed that this was the lowest point of the game. "Our worst play came in the middle of the first half," he said. The score at half time was 1-0, which gave the Bulldogs the lead.

The game ended in the first half of overtime on a penalty shot by Churchill, when defender Joel Sandjong was called for a questionable penalty. Physical play was evident throughout the second half of play and towards the end of the second half, sophomore Donald Benamna received a yellow card along with a Churchill defender for getting into a little scuffle.

Both sides were disappointed in the referees that were covering the game, but junior Simon Amato didn't blame the outcome of the match on the referees. "In high school, you're never gonna get a half decent ref,” he said. "We just have to play through it and play our game."

After halftime, Blair came back dominating the ball. The Blazers had many opportunities throughout the second half, but were unable to score. Amato acknowledged the missed scoring opportunities. "We have to tighten it up," Amato said. "We have to convert those in the playoffs."

Coach Haigh admitted that this was a difficult loss for the Blazers, but believes that it can only get better from here. "That's the second straight tough loss in overtime against a top 10 team in the county," he said. "The rest of our games will be relatively easy."

The boys' varsity soccer team will play their next home game on Monday, Oct. 10 against Sherwood at 5:00 p.m.