Blazers pounce on Bengals

The Bengals were the first to score when two offensive players took on senior goalie Chris Wilhelm. Then, with just over eight minutes left in the first half, senior Justin Hoy headed the ball past Blake's goalie to tie the game. With 14 minutes left in the second half, senior co-captain Jack Eisen-Markowitz kicked a ball into the lower right-hand corner of the net, putting the Blazers up 2-1. One minute later, sophomore Josh Zipin scored on an assist from Eisen-Markowitz. And then, with 57 seconds left in the game, Eisen-Markowitz struck again, this time on a penalty kick.

The Blazers' four goals were a welcome relief to Coach Adrian Baez, who stressed the team's inability to finish as a problem that plagued the Blazers through the first half of play. "We had opportunity, and we just couldn't put it away. But, as you can see, we've been working on that," he said of the team's second-half turnaround.

According to Baez, sophomore Michael Worden had a standout game, helping to set the tone in the midfield and to create scoring opportunities. To Baez, Worden was the "spark plug that started our fire."

Baez added that he was impressed with the team's victory because both starting forwards, juniors Mac Kpadeh and Patrick Beckford, were sidelined with leg injuries.

The win bolstered the team's record to 2-2-1 and set them up for what Baez believes will be a pivotal couple of games next week. "I'm very pleased," he said. "It's like a turnaround. We just equalized at 2-2-1, and we are going into our games next week with a high."

Blair next takes on Sherwood at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at home.