Blazers fall to Sherwood Warriors

On Tuesday, March 28, the Blair Blazers (1-1) fell to the Sherwood Warriors (1-1) in an intense and aggressive game resulting in a final score of 8-20.

The first quarter started out hopeful, with the Blazers and Warriors matching each other's energy. Sherwood scored the first goal of the night, and Blair retaliated with a point of their own. The two teams went back and forth until about halfway through the quarter, when Sherwood scored back to back, pushing them up by three points. This deficit only increased, as Blair struggled to defend their goal and convert possession of the ball into offensive pushes. The first quarter ended with a score of 3-8, Sherwood taking the lead.

Blazers hold their own against Sherwood in the first quarter

Photo: Blazers hold their own against Sherwood in the first quarter.

Blazers hold their own against Sherwood in the first quarter. Photo courtesy of Trini Széll.

Sherwood’s playing strategy was categorized by fast, systematic pushes of the ball up the field. Whenever the Warriors gained possession, they quickly bolted down the field, passed Blair defense, and mounted an attack. By the second quarter of the game, it was clear that Blair was unable to match their opponent’s intensity and they fell behind. 

Ultimately, Blair’s downfall was due to a lack of organization and teamwork. In the moments where the team was able to connect their passes and communicate, they shined. However, these moments were sparse, and as the clock ticked down to end the first half, the Blazers were not able to score again. The half ended 3-11.

With renewed spirits at the start of the second half, the Blazers held their ground against Sherwood for the first few minutes of the quarter. After a series of deft passes, the Blazers tucked away a goal, bringing the score up to 4-11 with nine minutes left in the quarter. Not long after, Sherwood retaliated and quickly scored two goals in the span of 30 seconds.

Back-and-forth scoring resulted in the Warriors leading 6-17 with a minute left in the third quarter. At this time, junior offensive midfielder Owen Moody made a last second effort to score. After spinning off of one defender and jumping between two Warriors, Moody scored his third goal of the game, bringing Blair to 7-17.

Closing out the game, tensions were high on both teams as multiple players faced penalties for body checking and shoving. Moody scored the final goal for the Blazers after two minutes into the quarter, yet Sherwood went on to close out the game with three final goals, ending the game with a score of 20-8.

Although the Blazers were unvictorious in their battle against the Warriors, Blair’s performance this year was drastically better than their performance against Sherwood last year. “I mean Sherwood's like a tough opponent but I think we played pretty well…[This year’s score is] eight times the improvement, you know, it’s good. And our defense let up less goals too so that's good,” Moody said.

Looking forward into the season, head-coach Nick Davis has set ambitious goals for the team to make a name for themselves. “I would love to win counties, and I would like to make it deep into the playoffs and at least make the state semi’s, that would be great. That would be a great improvement from year to year and get these seniors something to really remember,” he said.

Stay tuned for the Blazers’ next home game against Rockville on Friday, April 14.