Lauren Hendry (6) battles for position. | Ross Burton
BLYTHEWOOD – An early goal from Nations Ford didn’t discourage the Blythewood girls soccer team. Instead, the Falcons’ score around the 25-minute mark prodded the Bengals to a 3-1 victory in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
“We talked a lot about playing under pressure, keeping your composure,” Bengals head coach Kathy Knight said about the run up to the postseason. “Several times we gave ourselves opportunities to move forward. You’re not finished until you’re finished.”
About four minutes after the Falcons score, Claire Ellis found the net on a corner kick from Meredith stone to even things up. With eight minutes left in the first half, Claudia Watson got an assist from Ariana Paez and banged it in for the go-ahead goal.
Abby Griffin scored the third and final goal of the night off a Stone assist with 28 minutes left in the second half.
Blythewood (16-4-4) travels to Riverside Wednesday. The Warriors shut out Woodmont 8-0 Monday.
The playoffs are nothing new to Blythewood, which reached the second round last year before exiting with a loss at Wando. The only concern going into Greer to play Riverside Wednesday will be filling the gaps opened by five players down with injuries.
“I know we have some girls moving around in positions,” Knight said. “For them to continue to come together as a team, we’ll have to work hard and dig and fight.”
