From here on out, the Blair girls soccer team is playing as if its season is on the line.
With the regular schedule now behind it, the 2022 campaign very well could be.
“I think we need to think about how it could be our last game,” senior Trinity Back said of the Bears' immediate future. “How we just need to give it our all and give it our best.”
Class B No. 8 BHS (6-7 overall) lost Tuesday's regular season finale to No. 7 Elkhorn, 3-1, in overtime. It was the Bears' last match at Krantz Field as it moves onto the the Subdistrict 3 Tournament. The Bears host Omaha Concordia on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Coach Brandon Palmer's Blair squad enters the postseason on a five-match losing streak, though it did score its first goal since April 11 against the Antlers (8-7). Freshman Brynn Ray scored during the ninth minute of Tuesday's match, sending the ball off of an Elkhorn defender and past the goalkeeper. Allison Hernandez notched the assist after she and Sami Murray originally advanced the ball into the box with back-and-forth passing down the right side of the pitch.
Wrylee Osterhous started the Bears' attack when she won the ball near midfield and passed it ahead to her team's primary goal-scorers.
Blair went scoreless over the next 91 minutes, however, as keeper Kaitlyn Johnson tried to keep the Antlers out of the net. She registered her first save in the 11th minute before stopping two shots during the 19th.
Elkhorn's Adriana Pagan did even the score during the 31st minute, though. It then stayed 1-1 until the Antlers finally tallied two overtime goals in the 87th and and 91st minutes against the fatigued Bears.
“I think that we got really tired,” Back said, citing the Bears' lack of depth.
BHS nearly avoided overtime when Murray's shot hit off the crossbar during the 55th minute. Ray sent a crossing pass past the Elkhorn keeper and to the senior, who narrowly missed a 2-1 home advantage.
The Bears now hope they won't miss their opportunities to advance during the postseason. Back said her team must put it all on the line.
“What do we have to lose?” the midfielder said. “Nothing.”
