Each side present Tuesday afternoon in Bayfield sought to avoid a third consecutive defeat.
Both succeeded … sort of.
With both BHS and Pagosa Springs wanting to bounce back from a weekend loss to Alamosa, presently giving the Mean Moose control over the 3A Southwestern League, neither the Lady Wolverines nor Lady Pirates exited Wolverine Country Stadium having gained the upper hand as the rivals’ first clash in the 2024 campaign ended in a 1-1 tie.
Bayfield moved to 3-2-1 overall with the tie and Pagosa Springs moved to 2-2-1 with the tie.
Coming shortly after fellow junior Elizabeth Currier put the first true shot on BHS senior goalkeeper McKenna Noonan, PSHS’ Hailey Sams put the guests up 1-0 in the 28th minute. Bending a corner kick, taken from Noonan’s right and curved toward the goalie’s near post, Sams placed the ball just over senior defender Anna Vasgird, wisely protecting said position, and off partially-screened Noonan’s gloves into the net with the two Lady Wolverines not even three feet apart.
Bayfield junior Kambrie Byrd very nearly equalized in the 40th, but her long chip over Pagosa Springs junior keeper Keira Davis carried just over the crossbar and stuck in the strings moments before the first half ended.
The Lady Wolverines were ultimately able to at least pull even. Senior Preslie Wagner hit the crossbar with a 67th-minute shot set up by a pass from junior Sydney Rey – who was fouled on the play, inches outside the Lady Pirates’ 18-yard box. Despite not being awarded a penalty kick, Rey made good nonetheless with a low shot in the 68th around a multiplayer wall and past Davis’ right.
Davis had the last laugh as her quality save in the 77th minute denied BHS senior Genesis Barrera a likely winning goal. Nothing then came in the 80th of a Rey corner – the Lady Wolverines’ sixth, compared to three for the Lady Pirates – and the match concluded with virtually no stoppage time added.
Under first-year coach Trevor Gian, taking over for program icon Lindsey Kurt-Mason, Pagosa Springs hosts Montezuma-Cortez at 11 a.m. on Saturday
Bayfield, meanwhile, will take a break from SWL work to travel all the way to Larimer County for a 4 p.m. match on the 12th at Loveland Classical Academy.
