The Blair boys soccer team suffered its first loss Thursday on wet Ralston High School turf.
The Class B No. 6 Bears started the day with a home date against the Rams, but the game was moved to avoid the mud at Krantz Field. Afterward, the damp players walked back to the bus in silence. They fell to 7-1 with a 2-1 loss.
Coach Curt Scott doesn't want his players to forget the feeling.
“I think there's value in wins and losses,” he said. “Maybe especially losses.”
BHS started the 2021 season with seven-straight wins, outscoring its opposition 35-9. Now, the Bears have an outing to come back from.
“These games can be good,” Scott said.
Ralston scored two first-half goals before holding off Blair during the second. Jeremy McKee scored during the 20th minute before Jose Diaz scored the Rams' second goal with just 1:38 left before halftime.
The Bears finally found the back of the net during the 53rd with Elias Cortez kicking the ball from left to right and by the Ralston keeper. A 59th-minute Mark Donner save, and a 60th-minute Gabe Zurek clear out from inside his keeper's box, kept the deficit at one.
Blair's best shot to even the score, however, didn't find its way past the goal line. Cortez's long shot during the 70th minute was just punched away by the Rams' netminder.
Once time ran out, Ralston celebrated enthusiastically. It improved to 4-4 with the upset of the sixth-ranked team in Class B.
“We're lucky enough that, when Blair comes to town, we'll see everybody's 'A' game. For sure,” Scott said. “And we saw that here tonight.”
The Bears next compete in Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament play. They host the winner of Monday's Norris-Waverly winner at 7 tonight.
The BHS girls, meanwhile, host the Bennington-Elkhorn North winner at 5 p.m.
