One early wrong, as far as the Lady Wolverines were concerned, made for a rescuing right.
On the road Wednesday, Bayfield lost the prematch coin toss, guessing tails rather than heads, and went into halftime unexpectedly trailing underrated Ignacio 2-0. Bayfield, however, was relieved to have the afternoon’s wicked winds at their backs during the second half.
“That was definitely a major concern today; we knew we were going to be playing the wind,” said IHS head coach Alisha Gullion. “Even our strong kicks were taking a curve, our goal kicks weren’t coming very far out – we were definitely fighting the wind in the second half.”
“I walked off the field at halftime, and I just sat there and went, ‘We’re beating Bayfield? Guys, we’re beating Bayfield!’” she continued. “And I told them … just to keep their heads; that was the main thing. I said, ‘Bayfield, they’re fired up. We have them on the ropes, but they’re going to come out on fire the second half.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”
Finding extra gears with gusts at their back, BHS senior Mattie Moore kicked a laser on Lady Bobcat goalie Trinity Strohl not even 30 seconds after the Lady Wolverines took the restarting kickoff. In the 45th-minute, Moore cashed in on freshman Sydney Rey’s corner kick, taken from Strohl’s left, to get the guests on the scoreboard.
After repelling another Moore rocket in the 50th minute, Strohl couldn’t prevent Bayfield from equalizing in the 51st. Rey served in another corner, and after Lady Wolverine freshman Tanna Owens managed to get a touch on the ball in traffic, the ball skittered over to nearby senior Emaliah Sawyer, who capitalized.
With BHS earning eight corners after intermission, and 10 for the match compared with Ignacio’s two, the Lady ’Cats found themselves in major trouble. But after the visitors leveled, IHS settled and, recomposed, prevented the Lady Wolverines from forging ahead until Rey dribbled through two defenders and netted a 1-v-1 chance in the 69th minute for what ended up being the match-winner.
“I think we were pretty winded after the first half, but we gave it our all,” said Ignacio junior Harmony Reynolds, who chased down Alannah Gomez’s half-volley, breeze-borne beyond Bayfield’s fullbacks, to beat Lady Wolverine goalie Annie Fusco 10 minutes in. “My sister used to play, so I always used to watch her. And it was fun on the field; I didn’t think I’d like it but I really enjoyed it.”
Moore rang a threatening shot off the frame in the 12th minute, but even as Bayfield (5-2, 1-1 3A Southwestern) began racking up the attempts, Strohl proved stoic and would finish with (unofficially) 23 saves – mirroring the 22 she’d reportedly made in Saturday’s 5-1 loss at Ridgway.
“She’s having a lot of fun back there; that’s a huge piece of why she’s so confident,” Gullion said. “This was, what, her third or fourth game ever in goal? She’s just so naturally talented, and every game she gets a little better. It’s crazy how quickly she’s developed.”
“I like it,” said Strohl, a junior. “Like, it’s nerve-racking but it’s not that scary. We’re learning how to talk and communicate with each other; I think we’ve gotten 10 times better than we’d been.”
Such progression paid dividends offensively late in the first half, when sophomore Darlyn Mendoza-Lechuga managed to – before being flattened by a late-arriving tackle – square a 34th-minute pass in from the right wing straight to Reynolds, running the middle lane and unmarked right in front of Fusco (five saves, unofficially).
“That was such a perfect ball. I saw it come across, and I knew instantly it was going to be a goal,” said Gullion. “It was such a beautiful pass, put right there, and she just calmly hit it right into the goal.”
“We’ve been working on it a lot in practice,” Reynolds said, “but I think we all surprised ourselves this game. We’re getting better every game we go to; we’ve come a long way.”
Still with a long way to go in the 2022 season, the Lady Bobcats (1-6, 1-4 2A Southwestern) will next see action at 4 p.m. Tuesday when 3A Montezuma-Cortez comes to IHS Field.
“We’re holding strong,” said Strohl.
The Lady Wolverines, meanwhile, will host M-CHS (2-4, 2-1 3A SWL) at 4 p.m. Friday. Bayfield and Ignacio are slated to next meet at 7 p.m. May 5, inside Wolverine Country Stadium.
