Blair sends off sophomores with 1-1 tie against Einstein

Blair's star goalie Xenia Oroxom makes a spectacular dive towards the ball hurtling closer to the goal. But this time the ball is just too far out of reach. Einstein scores shortly after a beautiful shot by Blair forward Katie Scott, bringing the game to a tie at 1-1. With twenty minutes still to go in the second half, none of the players suspected that Einstein's goal would be the last of the game.

The hard-fought game was the last of the season for the JV girls' soccer team. To commemorate the emotional event and since it was the last chance for sophomores to play on JV, coach Summer Roark started as many sophomores as possible.

The change in the usual line up as well as the fact that the Blazers kicked off from the other side of the field probably contributed to the problems Blair experienced in the first half. The girls kept clustering together and allowing Einstein ample opportunities to score.

Both teams took a huge number of shots on goal, many of which were close calls. At one point, an Einstein player about to take a shot from only a few feet from the net was stopped by defender Rivka Zuares.

Einstein's offense repeatedly kicked the ball behind Blair defenders to avoid an off-sides call and then relied on their speed to get to the goal. Though the strategy was a successful one for Einstein, Blair dominated the game. The Blazer's offense had excellent coordination and passing skills which were essential to the game.

"This [was] one of the best games we ever played. It took a lot of practice to get here," said Zuares.

Though the team was disappointed not to finish the season with a win, they did end with an admirable 6-4-2 record, according to coach Summer Roark. Roark said Blair failed to win because the two teams were, "pretty evenly matched, [Einstein] just had a good goalie."

As for next season, Roark is retiring but Jennifer Tanner will be taking over as coach. Tanner said, "This season I was really excited to see how the team grew and gelled and as that happened we got more wins. I'm really fired up for next season."