Warriors leave Blazers in the dust

After placing first in the Wheaton Tournament on Sept. 16, the Blair varsity girls' soccer team returned home for a hard-fought 3-1 loss to the Sherwood Warriors on Wednesday night. The Blazers struggled to match Sherwood's fast-paced play and had trouble generating scoring opportunities.

The Blazers started the game with slow and sloppy play, allowing Sherwood several quick attacks on Blair's goal. But sophomore Molly Brune anchored the defense and goalkeeper Maggie Sullivan made several spectacular saves to keep the score even. When the Blazers were able to get the ball on their offensive side, they struggled to get shots off before losing possession to the Warriors. With three minutes left in the half, a miscommunication among Blair's defenders allowed a Sherwood player to dribble the ball past Sullivan and score, putting the Warriors up 1-0.

Sherwood continued to dominate the field for most of the second half. The Warriors beat Blair's defense again midway through the half, scoring with a low shot to the right corner. Two minutes later, a Sherwood cross soared into the goal box and snuck into the near post side of the goal off a Warrior's header, bringing Sherwood's lead to 3-0.

Rather than giving up, the Blazers responded by increasing their intensity for ten minutes of fierce play. The Blazers maintained possession and moved the ball to their offensive side, reeling off several close shots. With two minutes left in the game, junior Barbara Hendrick outran a Sherwood defender to a pass and bent the ball over the goalie's outstretched hands, making the score 3-1.

Blair's late-game rally was not enough to propel them to a win, as the Blazers struggled throughout the rest of the game to keep up with Sherwood's endurance and up-tempo play. "They were a pretty fast team, and it took us a while to catch up to their speed," said co-captain Danielle Peck.

Coach Bob Gibb agreed with Peck, but also stressed that Blair needs to be able to beat teams like Sherwood if they hope to duplicate their success in last year's playoffs, where the Blazers reached the division semifinals. "It's early," he said, "and we'll go back to the drawing board to find something that works."

The varsity girls' soccer team plays its next home game on Thursday Sept. 28 against Blake at 5 p.m.