Incoming storms cut the Blair High School boys soccer match at No. 1 Bennington short by 10 minutes, 32 seconds.
It was all but over before that Thursday evening, though.
The Badgers led just 1-0 before two goals during the last 5 minutes of the first half and won, 6-2. They improved to 12-1 with the four-goal victory, while the Bears dropped to 4-7.
“I can not fault their effort. I can't fault their attitude,” BHS coach Peter Massa said of his team. “But, I think, we need to work on the mental side of, 'Can we stay dialed-in when we need to be?'”
Bennington went ahead 4-0 just 3 minutes into the second half, too, before the Bears' Drew Wulf scored his team's first goal during the 47th minute. The Badger goalkeeper came out from between the posts and challenged Wulf, but whiffed, allowing the junior to finish the ball into an empty net.
The top-ranked team in Class B responded, though, going ahead 6-1 before Victor Hernandez delivered Blair's second goal on a long shot from left-to-right. The Bears were within four goals for more than 10 minutes, but didn't score again ahead of the unexpected early stoppage due to weather concerns.
After the match, Coach Massa addressed what he believes BHS needs to work on going into the final stretch of games this spring after four losses in its last five matches.
“We have failed to defend corners very well,” he said. “That's one of our No. 1 things we need to get better at.”
Massa said the Bears lack consistency when defending against the free kicks. They've also had issues maintaining possession.
“We can win the ball, but then we give it right back because we're not focused enough to make the simple 10- to 15-yard passes,” he explained. “And we do it in practice all day long, so, it's a mental thing.”
Next, Blair hosts the Eastern Midlands Conference Tournament's ninth-place game on Wednesday. The ninth-seeded Bears will play either Lincoln Northwest or Lincoln Standing Bear at 6 p.m. on Krantz Field.
BHS SOCCER LINE SCORE
Thursday
No. 1 Bennington 6, Blair 2
BHS (4-7) 0 2 — 2
BEN (12-1) 3 3 — 6
Goals: BHS — Drew Wulf 1, Victor Hernandez 1. BEN — Austin Kaiser 2, Max Leight 2, Kade Olbrich 1, Jase Backlund 1.
