Blair blows out the Blue Devils

Sept. 28, BLAZER STADIUM—

The girls' varsity soccer team established their superiority over Springbrook by demonstrating an intense offensive drive in tonight's 5-0 blowout. Despite having to recover from yesterday's frustrating tie to Blake, Blair came out strong against a weaker opponent and dominated. Contributions from star senior Sophie Esparza as well rising forward Annie Worden helped Blair to take control of the game from almost the very start.

The two teams seemed evenly matched for the first few minutes of the game until the Blazers stepped up their ball control and started attacking more aggressively. Esparza scored the first goal by capitalizing on a Blue Devils foul and netting a direct kick from the 18-yard line to the far post. Several minutes later, freshman Annie Worden dribbled around several defenders and secured another goal for Blair as her left-footed shot snuck past the goalie.

Springbrook could not counter Blair's offensive production because of the Blazers solid defense, led by sweeper Esparza. Blair's defense continually cleared the ball before the Blue Devils could take a shot at the goal. Freshman Molly Brune and junior Becca Vogel both refused to let up on defense and challenged nearly every Springbrook attempt to drive the ball into Blair territory.

Towards the end of the first half, Worden contributed her second goal by skillfully weaving through Springbrook's defense and pocketing the ball with a swift shot past the keeper. In tonight's game, Worden's outstanding performance proved why she deserves a spot on the varsity team as a freshmen. Prior to this game, says coach Robert Gibb, Worden seemed more physically intimidated by the size of the upperclassmen she faced in games, however, "[she] is getting used to playing around big bodies." In addition to the contributions of the other two freshmen on varsity, Gibb predicts that Worden's talent will be an asset to Blair once the team can adjust to having such a quick and perceptive player. "She's very creative and the offense needs to be there to support her," he said.

Worden explained how she took the initiative tonight, saying, "the more I took people on, the more my confidence grew and the more I was in the game." Gibb also recognized freshmen Anna Rassman for her tremendous effort in midfield, describing her as "very fast and very dangerous."

Blair came into the second half with a 3-0 lead, and although Springbrook regained some control in the first five minutes, their aggression soon faded without any tangible results. The Blazers continued to attack the goal with several close, but unsuccessful shots by junior Emma Liebman and Esparza.

In hopes of generating more offensive structure later in the game, Gibb shifted Esparza to center midfield, leaving Blair's defense a little shaky at first. But Brune sufficiently filled Esparza's shoes, and the position change freed up Esparza to orchestrate more risky chances and to boost Blair's offensive conviction. Gibb justified his decision to move Esparza, who is an asset on defense, to midfield by expressing his confidence in her substitute. "When I throw Sophie forward, I feel very comfortable putting [Brune] in Sophie's position," he said. "She is a very versatile player."

Midway through the second half, Springbrook's goalie misjudged a cross from junior Devon Madison, allowing Liebmen to volley the ball into the net. With a solid 4-0 lead, the Blazers seemed to become more relaxed while the Blue Devils became increasingly frustrated by their inability to get on the scoreboard. Gibb used this opportunity to keep some of his starters fresh and to give other players more play time with periodic substitutions. In the final minutes of the game, Esparza scored a left-footed shot that sailed right under the crossbar, bringing the final score to 5-0.

Gibb compared tonight's outcome to Blair's struggle against Blake last night. "Yesterday we couldn't get it through where it counted and we went into double overtime, even though we kept swarming their offensive end." He said that tonight, by contrast, the Blazers set the tone of the game with a relatively early goal, and they kept up their offensive momentum throughout.

Gibb noted that Blair's victory over Springbrook was not their best, partly because it's "hard to play well against a not particularly talented team." Senior Captain Sarah Rumbaugh, who is out for the season due to a torn ACL, added that the first three goals were unassisted and that Blazers did not play very cohesively - instead they simply took advantage of Springbrook's weaknesses. "We played sloppily, we didn't possess the ball well and we kicked a lot of balls into their feet; but because of [the Blue Devils'] lack of skill, it didn't affect the game."

With a 2-3-1 record, the Blazers will face two strong opponents next week, Watkins Mill and Damascus. Gibb said that although the team has made it through "a tough patch," the girls need to play with intensity and continue to dominate on offense if they want to "come up on the right side of the score" in upcoming games.

Blair's next game is at home against Watkins Mill on Wednesday at 5 p.m.