Blazers out duel the Knights

Saturday, Oct. 2, Richard D. Riddle Stadium, Wheaton High School-

With the Blair Blazers varsity field hockey game against the Wheaton Knights only minutes under way, Alexa Gabriel passed the ball off a penalty corner to Rachel Feely-Kohl who rocked a shot into the inside corner of the Wheaton goal to take a 1-0 lead. With the help of the goal by Feely-Kohl the Blazers were able to get their first win of the season, 2-1 over the Knights, to improve their record to 1-5.

The Blazers were finally able to generate a consistent offense attack, while maintaining an organized defense. Blair possessed the ball and improved their transition from offense to defense.

The first half began with the Blazers going out to an early one-goal lead, but the Knights would respond shortly after with a goal of their own. The Knights scored off one of their few penalty corners and were able to find an open player near the goal. However, Blair's defense would clamp down and limit Wheaton's scoring opportunities for the rest of the game. Blair would continue to generate offensive chances. Senior Christina Do intercepted a Wheaton pass and played the ball up to senior Caitlin Garlow running down the sideline, however the Blazers were unable to score on the threatening drive, a problem that plagued them for most of the game. Play in the first half was largely back and forth as both teams were unable to keep their ball on offense for long periods of time.

In past games the Blazers have struggled with their play in the midfield and transitioning the ball, so they implemented a new formation adding a third midfielder. Gabriel moved up from defense to play in the midfield because of her strong hitting abilities. The move paid off for both the team and Gabriel who flourished in the new arrangement. Gabriel was able to play all over the field and use her crisp passing to help generate offense. Sophomore Jessica Hallberlin played well in the midfield distributing the ball well with her push passes.

In the second half the Blazers shutdown the Wheaton attack but continued to have difficulties scoring. On several occasions the ball was inches from the goal line but the Blazers were unable to knock it in. Do was finally able to sneak a shot through the Wheaton defense off a pass from junior Sydney Valdez and score what would be the winning goal and her second of the season. The Blazers were never able to extend their one-goal lead, but were able to hang on for the win.

The defense played well with Valdez stepping up to intercept Wheaton passes and hitting solid clears. The team has been working on their defensive marking according to coach Julie Nation, who feels the team improved on that aspect of the game but will need to do even better against stronger teams.

Senior co-captain Feely-Kohl felt the team did better with their organization. "We did a good job spreading out, keeping our spacing and communicating," said Feely-Kohl.

Nation thinks the Blazers could've beaten Wheaton more easily and that the team will be more tested in their upcoming games. " How they play on Tuesday will determine how they play the rest of the season. They need to come out intense," said Nation.

The Blazers next take on Wootton at home on Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m.