The switch flipped during Friday's second half at Krantz Field.
Trailing 1-0 through 40 minutes against Platteview, the Blair girls soccer team dominated possession and created scoring chance after scoring chance during the second 40 in a 3-1 win over the Trojans.
“We changed our offense,” junior Sami Murray said, detailing the Bears' use of a third forward. “We pressured way, way better.”
Sophomore Allison Hernandez was among the players inserted into the game and helped make the difference.
“I was very energetic,” she said.
Platteview's Emma Middleton scored the Class B match's first goal, but Hernandez scored the second. She fired a shot on goal just 180 seconds after the intermission and then scored just another 4 minutes later, hitting the ball from right to left.
After Keara Chaffee nearly put Blair ahead on a 50th-minute free kick off of the left post, Murray did the honors in the 62nd, cleaning up another near miss off of the crossbar. The go-ahead goal came after nearly 10 minutes of constant BHS pressure and a timely diving save by the winning keeper — Sydney Campbell.
The Bears' 2-1 advantage lasted until sophomore Payton Sullivan pushed it to 3-1 during the 70th minute, finishing off a perfectly placed corner kick into the box. The sophomore said she saw the ball coming right for her.
“I kind of anticipated it,” she said.
The corner found Sullivan's right foot in the box and she, subsequently, found the back of the net for her first career goal.
“It feels really good,” the forward said.
Coach Brandon Palmer's team moved to 2-2 with the two-goal victory, while Platteview fell to 3-2.
“We feel really good about it,” Hernandez said, hopeful that the Bears' success continues as the season unfolds.
