JV Blazers finish season on a high note

Oct. 19, BLAZER STADIUM

Blair's junior varsity boys' soccer team prevailed against the Einstein Titans in their final game of the season, winning 3-1. After a shaky first half that produced just one goal in the first few minutes, the Blazers came together in the second half and pressured the Titans on offense, pinning them to their goal box. The win gives the JV Blazers a solid final record of 7-3.

Both coaches and players felt that the team's five-game winning streak to end the season was due to both tactical adjustments and emotional strength. After the team's third loss of the season against the Springbrook Blue Devils on Oct. 3, the Blazers reorganized their line-up, switching player positions to suit individual strengths. Hamid Marroquin, for example, initially a midfielder, was inserted as the squad's sweeper.

Head coach Marc Grossman and assistant Howard Kohn insisted that the turnaround was due to more than soccer skills, agreeing that the players maintained a positive attitude and kept playing with energy and enthusiasm despite their losses. The Blazers came into the second half of their game against Einstein with more confidence than in the first half, contributing to their victory. "It's not all about tactics," said Kohn.

The Blazers came out of the gates fast against the Titans, advancing quickly in the first minute of the first half. Sophomore forward Gui Pires shot at the goal from the right corner, on an assist from sophomore forward Wayne Henderson, just missing the left corner of the net.

Sophomore forward Erick Hernandez scored the first goal of the game to give the Blazers an early lead in the third minute, dribbling through the Titan's lackadaisical defenders, lining himself up in front of the goal and sending the ball into the left side of the net.

Blair was unable to follow through on their early goal for the remainder of the first half. The Titans, shaken by Blair's early goal, played with more guile and precision, catching the Blazers in offsides traps. The Titans also made dangerous attempts on Blair's goal. In the 10th minute of the first half, one Einstein forward launched a shot on goal from the right corner. The ball glided past the open net, a miss close enough to elicit gasps and groans from the spectators.

Despite the loss of both Pires and freshman Georges Noubossie to injuries in the first half, the Blazers began to possess the ball again, bringing it into Titan territory. The team's energy remained into the second half, when Pires returned to action and led a number of valiant charges on Einstein's goal, dribbling through Titan defenders directly into the box. Pires scored on two of these charges, the first in the 45th minute, to bring the score to 3-0 in Blair's favor.

The Blazers were riding high for much of the second half until a number of dribbling Titan forwards and midfielders shoved their way through Blair's defenders. Although the Titans couldn't muster a goal against the Blazers themselves, in the muddy confusion the Blair defenders knocked the ball into their own goal in the 61st minute, bringing the score to 3-1.

But the Blazers came out on top at the end of the game, and the players and coaches were generally happy with the outcome and the way the team has improved since the beginning of the season. "We became a better team," Henderson said simply.