Girls soccer holds on for the victory

All eyes were on the Blazers, as they pulled out a victory in overtime in their final game before playoffs. At one point, it appeared that the game was going to be a tie, but the Blazers kept up their intensity and managed to finally get the ball in the net.

Blair defense was aggressive and strong, allowing rare attempts for Richard Montgomery to score. However, Blair's offense consisted of several faults and lacked the skill of finishing plays. The Blazers were taking shots too far away from the goal and with no angle on them, thus placing the ball directly in the opposing goalie's arms. "We're playing catch with [the goalie] all night," said head coach Bob Gibb.

Blair had many good looks at the net, however, took too long to shoot the ball. The team was able to maneuver the ball past Richard Montgomery's defense by using well-executed crosses and by switching the ball across the field, only to get close to the goal and then have it stolen due to hesitation.

Going into overtime, the Blazers knew they had to put the ball in the net before Richard Mongomery did. With five minutes left in sudden victory overtime, junior Rebeccah Bernard took a beautiful shot that went right over the goalie's head and into the net, putting Blair's final record at 6-6.

Junior goalie Emma Simson started the game, taking the place of injured sophomore goalie Erika Pelz-Butler, who was having some pain in her arm after the team's last game against Northwest. Simson played a superb game, blocking all five of Richard Montgomery's shots.

Junior Sara Achrati also contributed great energy to the game. Achrati won the majority of her 50-50 balls and used her speed to get the ball down the field. Her crosses were wonderful, setting the Blazer's offense up for many easy shots that were just not able to be finished.

Next, the Blazers face Churchill for their first game of playoffs. After losing to Churchill in an evenly matched game, 0-2, the Blazers are preparing to come at them strong to set the tone for playoffs.