Game Summaries
September 4, 2007 Blair v Watkins Mill
Varsity Ties 0-0 (2OT)- Blair's defense shut down the Wolverine offense, but was unable to put the ball in the back of the net.

JV Wins 3-2 Against Watkins Mill
Angel Canales, Ricardo Murga and Elias Trimble all scored on assists from Jabiri Hawkins, Samat Warren and Ben Kaufman. The Wolverines took the lead 15 minutes into the first half. The mini-Blazers tied the score at the 25 minute mark when Angel Canales received a pass from Jabiri Hawkins and landed the ball in the lower right corner of the net..

Ricardo Murga headed a corner kick taken by Samat Warren early in the second half after running in from the far left corner of the penalty box. The Wolverines tied the game with a shot taken outside the penalty box that sailed into the upper ninety of the net.

With two minutes left on the clock left mid-fielder, Elias Trimble launched a ball from 10 yards outside the penalty box that landed in the net behind the Wolverine goalkeeper to secure the Blazer victory. The mini-Blazers celebrated their first win in dramatic fashion with a congratualatory pile on. The Blazers face Richard Montgomery next Monday in an away match- JV- 3:30pm, Varsity 5:00pm.

Blair V. Richard Montgomery 0-0 (2OT)
On Monday September 10th, the Blair JV boys soccer team traveled out to play the Richard Montgomery team. In a long defensive battle, they played valiantly with impressive efforts by the defense and goalie, but in the end, the solid play of Richard Montgomery’s defense forced a 0-0 tie in double overtime. The game started off slowly for Blair, only managing one shot in the entire first half on a perfectly placed corner kick. Although the offense picked up the tempo in the second half, they were unable to overcome Richard Montgomery’s long possession time. In overtime, they were able to control the ball and manage two shots, the same amount as they got in regulation, in a short period but couldn’t pull out a victory in the end. Overall, it came down to lack of offensive opportunities, where Blair managed one shot on goal compared to Richard Montgomery’s eight. Coach Marc Grossman thought there was much work to be done to prepare for a stretch of four games against top teams in the state – Whitman, Magruder, Springbrook, Wooton.

Blair v. Whitman 0-2
The Blair JV boys soccer team played their first home game against Walt Whitman. The Blair team showed clear signs of improvement by effectively moving and controlling the ball. The defense contained Whitman for the most part, but two unfortunate but costly mistakes allowed Whitman to walk away with a win, 2-0. The first goal came on a corner kick, where a Whitman player was simply unmarked, the second on a breakaway. The Blair offense began slowly, but came alive at the end of the first half, and continued into the second half. Stellar performances were delivered by goalies Kit Durban and Vikas Mendhiratta who each registered over 7 saves. Stopper Otis Banwell also delivered an energetic performance in commanding Blair’s offensive charge from the midfield. The team had plenty of opportunities, but just could not land the ball in the back of the net. Coach Grossman recognized the improvement of the team, but believed that the team needed to be more consistent, showing energy “throughout the game, not just at the end of each half”.

Blair Loses to Magruder 0-2

Blair High School
After a tough loss to Whitman, the Blair JV boys soccer team continued the tough schedule against Magruder. They fought hard, but in the end, Magruder won 2-0 victory. Scoring on two close shots, that came within seven minutes of the beginning of the first half and the end of the game, Magruder found its way through the Blair defense. Unfortunately, the Blair team had a difficult time keeping possession and advancing the ball down the field. Many passes were intercepted, or not properly aimed, and Blair lacked offensive opportunities. After the game, there was not too much to say for coach Grossman. He said that the team just got badly outplayed, and needed to work harder in practice to improve on their mistakes.

Blair Beats Springbrook 2-0

Springbrook High School
After a scoring drought of 225 minutes, the Blair JV boys team opened quickly against Springbrook with a great goal in the first two minutes in which Angel Canales crossed the ball from the right side to Ricardo Murga for the finish to take a quick 1-0 lead in the first half.

The second half began with a Blair cross by Jabiri Hawkins that was deflected by Springbrook’s sweeper player for a Blazer goal. Blair walked off the field with a 2-0 victory. Blair easily passed around the Springbrook defense and took over a dozen shots on goal. The defense held off an incredibly fast but poorly organized attack by the Springbrook offense

Blair Vs Wooton – JV Soccer

Blair High School
The Blair JV boys soccer team followed up a convincing victory over Springbrook with a nailbiter at home against Wooton. The Blazers scored early in the second half on a mishandled back pass by the Wooton goalie, and never looked back, earning their first home victory 1-0. Besides the one goal, the Blair offense was much quieter than it had been against Springbrook, and the defense struggled to keep Wooton out of their side of the field. However, Blair came through in the clutch time and time again, who had more than 20 shots on goal, four of which were blocked by defensive players. Wooton had an especially strong attack in the last 20 minutes, when Blair only possessed the ball on Wooton’s side of the field about five or six times. However, they held on when they needed to, and got a tough victory against a very good team. Coach Grossman was pleased with the result, as Blair snagged a much needed home victory. He said it was really close, and perhaps we got very lucky, but a win is a win, and that is what we will see on our record. Blair next plays at Gaithersburg on Tuesday.