Wildcats rip through Blazer defense

OCT. 18, BLAZER STADIUM—

During warm ups before the boys' varsity soccer team's game against the Wildcats of Walter Johnson (WJ), the team didn't bustle. When the Blazers got on the field, they didn't hustle. Once again the boys team walked off the field, after a rough and inconsistent 80 minutes of play, defeated, this time 1-3, dropping their season record to a disappointing 3-5-1.

Five minutes into the first half, coach Adrian Baez yelled to his team from the sidelines, "Midfield, where are you?" His exasperation was not unwarranted. The team was placing passes poorly and playing a reactive game in the midfield, waiting for WJ to win the ball before challenging for possession, two problems with the Blazers' performance that persisted throughout the first half.

Blair's shoddy play in the first half cost them three goals in a 10 minute span as the WJ offense dribbled past the Blazer midfield and defense again, and again, and again.

In the second half the Blazers came onto the field slightly stronger and a touch more aggressive. With 20 minutes left in the game, senior co-captain Jack Eisen-Markowitz brought the ball down the left side of the field cut through the middle past two WJ defenders and hit a low hard shot to the right corner of the goal, scoring Blair's lone goal of the night.

However, to Eisen-Markowitz, the intensity in the second half wasn't enough to win the game against WJ, or against any strong soccer program in the county. "You can't play 40 minutes of good soccer against a good team and expect to win. You can't even play 78 minutes of good soccer against a team like Whitman and expect to win. You have to be intense the whole 80 minutes," he said.

The boys' next play Sherwood on Thursday at home. The game starts at 7:00p.m. and is their last home game of the regular season.