Blair High School soccer teams won two varsity matches Tuesday night.
The girls squad won at Plattsmouth 5-0, while the boys beat Omaha North at Krantz Field, 5-2. Coach Curt Scott's Bears improved to 4-3 with the home win.
“It was team game,” junior Riley Wolff said. “All of our defenders scored.”
Freshman midfielder Blaise Baughman scored first, though. Less than three minutes into the boys match, Wolff sent the ball into the Vikings' box with a corner kick. The goalkeeper batted the ball, but couldn't come up with it before a ninth-grade Bear put it into the back of the net.
“It was just awesome,” Baughman said. “I was in the right place at the right time and just tapped it in.”
He credited Quinn Baedke for helping him give BHS an early 1-0 advantage.
“He slowed it down for me to just tap it in,” the freshman said.
The Vikings tied the match at 1-all before halftime, but had no answer for the Bears during the second half. Senior defender Jake Raymond scored a 2-1 lead in the 55th minute, heading in another Wolff corner kick.
Blair's Crayton Macholan then scored a free kick from near midfield during the 62nd minute prior to Alex Just's goal in the 6e6th. Finally, during the 69th, Wolff scored a 5-1 lead with his own tally.
“I got the ball at midfield and I dribbled all the way down,” he said. “Crossed a few defenders and scored, so, it was nice.”
The Blair girls scored five times in Plattsmouth, too. Coach Nick Hall's team — which is 5-2 — earned a 2-0 halftime lead before scoring three more goals during the second 40 minutes.
Allison Hernandez and Sally Kies led the Bears with two goals apiece, while freshman Claire Anderson added one. Hernandez, a senior, has 11 goals through just seven games this season.
Another BHS senior, Kaitlyn Johnson, earned the win in goal. She made one save during the Bears' third shutout of the season.
Boys beat Westview, fall to Scotus
The Bears lost a home matchup against Class B No. 8 Columbus Scotus on March 30, but earned an 11-1 rout last Saturday at Omaha Westview. Baedke led coach Scott's boys team against the Wolverines, scoring four goals. Freshman Tannon Bellamy, meanwhile, notched three and senior Peter Clarke had two.
Baughman and Sergio Dominguez — who was returning from injury — scored in Omaha, too.
On March 30, however, the Bears lost at Krantz Field, 3-0. The eighth-ranked Shamrocks improved to 4-0 with the win on BHS' turf.
“We've battled,” coach Scott said. “We've had a lot of core injuries these past two or three games and we've battled through.”
The Bears fought into the wind during the second half, trailing 2-0 after two first-half goals by Scotus. Wind, however, was not the difference in the match, Scott said.
Instead, it was the Shamrocks' ability to keep Blair off of the scoreboard. The Bears pushed the ball into the box multiple times during the final 20 minutes, but came up empty.
Baedke and Drew Wulf connected on Wulf's run with a little more than six minutes left, but the Scotus goalkeeper and a defender thwarted the scoring opportunity. Still, BHS attempted a corner kick in the aftermath, but the header attempt was off.
That's when the Shamrocks built to their final goal with 4:05 left. Senior Blake Wemhoff scored it, giving his team its final margin of victory — three goals.
BHS SOCCER LINE SCORES
Tuesday
Blair boys 5, Omaha North 2
ON (0-5) 1 1 — 2
BHS (4-3) 1 4 — 5
Blair goals: Blaise Baughman, Jake Raymond, Crayton Macholan, Alex Just and Riley Wolff.
Blair girls 5, Plattsmouth 0
BHS (5-2) 2 3 — 5
PHS (2-4) 0 0 — 0
Blair goals: Sally Kies (2), Allison Hernandez (2) and Claire Anderson.
Saturday
Blair boys (3-3) 11, Omaha Westview (0-6) 1
Blair goals: Quinn Baedke (4), Tannon Bellamy (3), Peter Clarke (2), Baughman and Sergio Dominguez.
March 30
No. 8 Columbus Scotus 3, Blair boys 0
SCOTUS (4-0) 2 1 — 3
BHS (2-3) 0 0 — 0
