Boys' soccer regulates Watkins Mill

OCT 1, BLAZER STADIUM

The boys' varsity soccer team rolled in the second half en route to a
2-0 victory over Watkins Mill. Midfielders Jack Eisen-Markowitz and
Roger Sohiya each scored as the team dominated throughout but
only gained momentum in the second half.

Coach Adrian Baez said that the difference between Blair's
lackluster first half and their dominant second lay in the second-half
pressure the Blazers put on the Wolverines every time the Blazers
lost the ball. Although the score remained at a 0-0 standstill until
Eisen-Markowitz's second-half goal, the ball remained on Wolverine
turf throughout the game as a tribute to the Blazers' ball-handling
skills.

The first goal came after 45 scoreless minutes. When midfielder
Josh Zipin headed the ball to Eisen-Markowitz in Watkins Mill's
goal-box, Eisen-Markowitz said the ball was bouncing around. "I
had too much time, so I just swung and missed," he said. "Instead
of trying to make it sweet," Eisen-Markowitz just tapped the ball into
the opposite corner of the goal after his unintentional fake.
Eisen-Markowitz said he was "pleasantly surprised" that the ball
actually went into the net.

Sohiya's 60th minute goal, however, sailed in a flawless arc to the
upper left-hand corner of the Wolverine goal.

Watkins Mill's greatest offensive threat lay in forward Kevin Gnatiko,
known to Baez as "that fast little guy" and to midfielder Greg Breads
as the best forward in the county. "Every time he got the ball, he
burned at least three of us," said Breads.

However, the Wolverine offense was generally manhandled by
strong performances by senior defenders Will Whitney and Andrew
Pomeroy. "If we just prevented [Gnatiko] from getting the ball, then
they didn't have any attack against us," said Breads.

In a team meeting after after the game, Baez apologized to those
players who didn't didn't playing time, telling them that they must
wait their turn. In response, one frustrated senior physically
threatened Baez out of his anger at not playing. Baez promptly
expelled the senior from the team

The Blazers will face Gaithersburg at Blair AT 7:00 next Tuesday with
a 6-2 record. Baez says that he expects great things from this team
and that he hopes to win ten games this season.