Colonels triumph over Blazers

Despite a strong start and consistent efforts throughout the game, the Blair boys' lacrosse team (0-5) was not able to fight off Magruder (2-4). The Blazers led early on, but as the game continued, they had no answer to the Colonels' continued offense, and lost 12-10.

The first half of the game remained close. The game began with a Magruder possession, but Blair soon got the ball, and junior Paul Moser scored. Four minutes later, however, Magruder countered with a goal of its own.

Blair junior Daniel Jones gained possession after the face off, starting a Blair offense, which resulted in freshman Garrett Anderson's first of four goals of the game. In the absence of two other midfielders, Anderson, who had not scored yet in the season, was forced to become an offensive threat. "I got moved up to first line, and I just had to step up,” he said.

After the goal, saves by Blair goalkeeper junior Michael Cales, kept the Blazers in the lead until the next Magruder goal with three minutes left in the quarter. Magruder remained on offense for the remainder of the period, and stayed close to the goal. It took several minutes until Jones, with eight seconds left, knocked the ball away from Magruder attackers, disrupting their possession and giving Blair energy at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter began with a Blazer possession when freshman Calvin Bruwelheide won the tip-of and within a minute, senior Matthew Guerrera scored. For the majority of the remainder of the half, Blair continued to attack the goal, with several breakaways and good ball movement. Magruder, however, had the answer to its one point deficit when the Colonels scored three goals in the last three minutes and thirty seconds of the half. Blair went into halftime down 5-3, but well-within striking distance.

The tide continued to turn against Blair as Magruder began the second half with the ball. Although there were no goals in the first few minutes of the half, Magruder soon scored another two goals. After the Colonels' fifth goal in a row, Blair responded, with Bruwelheide winning the face off, streaking down the field, and passing the ball to junior Sean Tan for a goal. Within the same minute, Magruder scored once again, but then so did Anderson a few possessions later. Magruder ended the quarter with two more goals to put them up 10-5.

Ten seconds into the fourth quarter, Magruder scored another goal. Once again, however, Anderson answered with a goal, which was followed up with a run down the field and goal by junior defender Joshua Agu within ten seconds. Bruwelheide scored another goal, but Blair's efforts at a comeback were interrupted by a goal which a Magruder player shot from behind his back. Bruwelheide and Anderson each scored another goal, and at the 2:30 mark, Blair was down by only one goal. Although trying to remain on offense, Blair gave up another goal. In the last two minutes, Blair and Magruder continued to attack the goal, but both defenses remained stringent to end the game in a Magruder win, 12-10.

Although the Blazers lost, Coach Christopher Brown believed that they played their best game of the season yet, even with two starters missing. "They played very well. Obviously, a loss is not something you want to deal with, but on a positive note, it's the best we've played all year,” Brown said.

Heading into the next few games, Brown would especially like to see the team clean up its game and let in fewer goals. "Our biggest issue is we just have a couple mental let downs each game. Three out of the first five goals were just our mistakes,” he said.