The strength of the Eastern Midlands Conference (EMC) displayed itself again Thursday as the Blair girls soccer team played at Bennington High School.
After 10 wins to start the season, including five against EMC opposition, the Bears faced their third-straight ranked conference foe and lost. The No. 5 Badgers improved to 9-4 with a 2-1 win, while coach Nick Hall's team dropped to 10-3 overall.
“We kind of just beat ourselves again,” he said. “Possession-wise, we out-possessed them. We just couldn't get it into the back of the net.”
All three goals came during the first 40 minutes of Thursday's match. Bennington scored first during the 17th minute when Taylor McFalls got behind BHS' defense and scored on Bears goalkeeper Regan Blattert during a 2-on-1 runout.
Brynn Ray answered during the 25th minute, though, scoring past the Badgers' goalie for a 1-1 tie. The junior Bear softly lifted the ball into the air, sending it from left-to-right and into the net.
Blattert made a save a minute later during a a 1-on-1 situation, but she couldn't stop Harlie Taylor's shot during the 33rd, too. The Badger outraced Blair's defense again, putting her team ahead by what turned out to be the final tally.
“I thought we kind of held them onside, and kept holding them onside, instead of just stepping and getting the offsides calls,” Hall said.
The Bears were playing without a regular starter in their back line, but found a lineup to keep the Badgers without another goal for the last 47 minutes of the match.
“It's hard to do on the fly with new people,” Hall said.
The coach felt at one point, however, that his squad's comeback was a sure thing.
“The first 15 minutes of that second half, I thought, 'Man, we're going to kick their butt,'” Hall said. “We out-possessed them, but we just couldn't get shots on goal or a good shot.”
BHS' Laynie Brown took one last long shot with 28 seconds left, but it missed left. Ray did score a goal earlier in the match, but the Bears couldn't get a second for just the fourth time this season.
“(The Badgers) are tough on the back,” Hall said. “They've got older girls and they're stronger.”
Blair next plays Elkhorn today in its regular season finale. The home match starts at 6:30 p.m. on Krantz Field. The Bears fell to the Antlers, 4-1, on April 9.
BHS SOCCER LINE SCORE
Thursday
No. 5 Bennington 2, No. 7 Blair 1
BHS (10-3) 1 0 — 1
BEN (9-4) 2 0 — 2
Goals: Blair: Brynn Ray. Bennington: Harlie Taylor, Taylor McFalls.
