Blazers conquer Warriors

BLAZER STADIUM, Oct. 17 -

Coming off of a devastating defeat to Walter Johnson, the Blazers took out their frustration on the Sherwood Warriors, displaying their defensive strength in a 4-0 victory. Despite the fact that Sherwood's violent style of play mixed well with the referee's lenience towards aggressive play, the Blazers managed to keep to their game plan and come away with the victory.

Only two days earlier, the Blazers took one of their hardest losses of the year. With only minutes left, a Walter Johnson forward slipped a ball by junior goalie Jenny Williams for the final blow in a 2-1 loss. The Blazers were determined that this would not happen again. "We came out there guns a blazing. We were going to make sure people knew what happened last game was an accident," said senior captain Lizzie Horne.

The Blazers accomplished this, allowing only six shots on goal, all of which hardly challenging for goalie Jenny Williams. The first half started out with Blazer style of play. The team tackled hard and hustled, winning almost every ball from the Warriors. The ball possession was very even and neither team could mount serious attacks. Junior captain Annie Worden ended this however, as she dribbled through several defenders showing excellent foot skills, then crossed a ball to junior Paige Munger, who took an excellent shot and placed the ball in the upper left corner of the goal.

The second half opened up with similar defensive play. Feeling the loss of injured junior Anna Rassman, the Blazers had to compensate, playing almost all of their midfielders back on their own half, ensuring the Warriors had no chance to strike. With the defensive strategy however, the Blazers lacked possession on the Warriors half and up until 19th minute it seemed the Blazers would have difficulty increasing their lead.

The offense got jumpstarted on a drive from Worden, who blew past two Sherwood defenders just before being fouled just outside of the 20 yard line. Sophomore sweeper Imani Pierre stepped up to take the free kick and dumped a shot over the goalie and right into the back of the net. The Blazers swarmed Pierre and celebrated at midfield.

The team quickly regrouped and minutes later threatened to score again. Sophomore Darcy Pelz-Butler took a pass from Worden all the way into the far right corner and then crossed the ball over the middle of the box. The play was not finished and resulted in a missed opportunity for the Blazers. The team did not pause for a minute, and Pelz-Butler crossed a ball from the right corner again, this time finding the foot of junior Jeanette Chavez who put it in the goal.

With only seven minutes remaining in the game, head coach Bob Gibb sent out his five seniors, who took the field with their heads held high. "It was really special to run out there with girls I have been playing soccer with my whole life and fans that have been with us for as long as I can remember. At that point I was playing for all of them," said senior Katie Scott.

The girls celebrated their victory and successful senior night as they broke into a team meeting and awarded recognition to every senior. They were met by loving parents and a table of snacks, putting the icing on an already pleasant cake.

The Blazers take on the Northwood Gladiators next at Northwood on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.