Whitman wipes out Blazers

WHITMAN HIGH SCHOOL, Sept. 18 -

The girls' varsity soccer had yet to be challenged this year, dominating all of their opponents until their 1-0 loss to the Vikings. The Vikings combined blistering speed and physical play to overcome the Blazers team work.

The game began very evenly matched. The Blazers midfield, sparked by junior captain Annie Worden, moved the ball up the field well; however they could not beat the speed of Whitman defenders. "That has got to be the fastest team I have ever played against while coaching high school soccer," head coach Bob Gibb commented.

Whitman's speed also served as the catalyst to the offense. The Vikings were able to play a ball up the right side, and Blair's midfield could not get back in time to stop the play before it evolved. Whitman scored on a break away down the left side of the field.

The Blazers regained their composure and began to control the ball more as the game went on. The Blazers battled for the remaining time in the half, and went into halftime still upbeat and confident.

The second half opened with very aggressive play from the Blazers. They started the second half with set play to Worden, who dribbled through four Vikings and dished the ball up to Sophie Reed who lost the ball to the speedy Whitman defenders. They maintained their aggressive play throughout the second half, missing out on two big opportunities, the most important being a failed set play off of a free kick by junior Anna Rassman that was fended by a hard shot right to the goalie by junior Susie Branson.

The Blazers began to show their exhaustion towards the end of the second half. They had trouble stopping Viking plays, but were held together by the leadership of senior captain Lizzie Horne and the speed and determination of sophomore Imani Pierre, who Gibb describes as aggressive and dependable. "Sometimes Imani is a little aggressive and people get by her, but you can bet she will be the nest defender on them ready to take the ball back," he said.

The Blazers rebounded in the final five minutes, continuously putting pressure on the Vikings. The Blazer fans, despite being outnumbered on enemy turf, drowned out Whitman cheers and the Blazers came very close to scoring. The game was capped by a miss free kick from 35 yards out by Worden.

Despite the Blazers loss, they remained very positive about the game. "It's just like I told the girls, this isn't a divisional game and it's a team we have never beaten. They were scared the entire game, and you can be people around the county are going to change their opinion about us." The players also remained very positive. "It was rough, to lose that close of a game, but our team is strong enough to come back and play hard in our next game," said Horne.

The Blazers' next game is Monday, September 24 against Springbrook.