Hornets sting the Blazers

Damascus April 23-

The Damascus Hornets dominated the Blair girls' varsity lacrosse team in every aspect of the game as the Blazers lost 18-2, which drops their record to 2-5 on the season.

Blair was never close in a game where they were outmatched by the talented Damascus squad who is one of the top teams in the county. Damascus came into the game undefeated and proved why as they raced out to score the first five goals of the game. The Blazers were unable to stop the potent Damascus offense and struggled to control the ball themselves.

Damascus set the tone early scoring in the first seconds of the game. After five consecutive Damascus goals, senior co-captain Lauren Finkel would drive to goal and score for the Blazers at the 17:03 mark of the game. However Damascus would respond with nine straight goals and put the Blazers out of the game. Blair would end the half with a goal in the last minute by senior co-captain Erica Nowak from an assist by Finkel.

According to coach Mike Horne, the girls were up against one of their toughest opponents but could've done better themselves. "We didn't do the little things like ground balls. When you don't have possession you have problems," said Horne.

In the second half Damascus would only score four more goals, but this was more due to Damascus playing subs and slowing down the game than improved play by the Blazers. Still, the Blazers continued to fight and started the second half with a solid offensive possession but were unable to score.

Horne saw the second half as a chance for the Blazers to begin work for their upcoming games. "As the game progressed we used the second half to prepare for the next few games. We refocused and took the game from a 0-0 approach," said Horne.

Blair had their hands full all game as the Damascus players drove to goal and found open cutters. Defensively, the Blazers were not marking on hip and the Damascus players only needed a few steps to get open and score. In transition and on offense the Blazers made unforced errors with dropped balls and missed passes.

Despite the big loss Horne feels that the Blazers can learn and grow from playing a good team and expects to see stronger play in their upcoming games against Kennedy and Gaithersburg.

The Blazers will next play Kennedy on Wednesday, April 27 at Blair at 5:15. Blair will look to end their losing skid by defeating a weaker Kennedy squad.