The Blair High School boys soccer team played Monday's home match against Class B No. 6 Elkhorn North with multiple starters sidelined by injury.
The Bears lost 3-0 at Krantz Field, but coach Peter Massa said those missing players should be back sooner rather than later. Against North, though, the shorthanded BHS lineup was unable to find the back of the net, dropping to 2-3 on the season.
The Wolves, notably, scored their first goal just a minute in before adding a second in the 11th. Their last, however, came 62 minutes later.
“Elkhorn North is a really good team,” junior captain Eli Belsky said. “So, I think, keeping it 2-0 for that long is really good.”
The Bears settled in and kept the score close after the early onslaught. Alex Just, meanwhile, may have produced the home squad's best chance to cut into the lead during the 15th minute, sending a crossing pass into the box with Drew Wulf contending for it. The North keeper got out of position, but Blair was unable to get to the ball in time for a shot.
Later, Bears junior forward Brendan Esparza did place a shot on goal, but it wasn't hard enough to find its way through to the net.
Even as Coach Massa's team struggled to earn many more scoring opportunities, it played well enough defensively in front of keeper Luke Donner to keep the Eastern Midlands Conference match close.
“We came out second half and we knew what we were doing,” Belsky said. “We'd talked about what we were going to do to keep it 2-0 and we achieved that.”
The 3-0 loss did, however, keep improvement on the forefront of the captain's mind.
“Going forward, we need to start perfecting a lot more during practices,” he said. “And, kind of, just having the mindset that we're going to go in and win every single game that we possibly can.”
The shorthanded Bears lost Monday, but they didn't let the match against sixth-ranked Elkhorn North get out of hand .
“I think it's important that we came out and were ready to play after that first goal,” Belsky said.
BHS was scheduled to host Lincoln Standing Bear on Thursday and next plays at Omaha Westview on Saturday. The varsity road match starts at noon.
BHS SOCCER LINE SCORE
Monday
No. 6 Elkhorn North 3, Blair 0
EN (3-0) 2 1 — 3
BHS (2-3) 0 0 — 0
Goals: EN — Jackson Crom 2 and Kaden Sprowls 1. Winning goalkeeper: Mason Ferry.
