Coming off a shutout victory over Ignacio, the Bayfield High School girls soccer team was caught off guard when the Pagosa Springs Pirates shutout the Wolverines on Friday afternoon.
The 2-0 win for Pagosa Springs was a bit of revenge, as Bayfield beat the Pirates 3-0 on March 15. Bayfield saw chances to score but was unable to capitalize on its corner kicks. The Wolverines earned seven corner kicks to two for the Pirates.
“I think we didn’t have the first half that we had when we played Ignacio,” Bayfield head coach Jen Zelinski said. “I could see it in the warmup, but I tried to get them fired up. I’m not sure if they were tired or burnt our from the school year, but we didn’t play our best game. We didn’t play bad, but we didn’t have the drive or aggressiveness.”
At the end of the game, it was Pagosa Springs’ Alyssa Lewis who drove the dagger through Bayfield by scoring the game’s only two goals. Lewis scored in the first half at the 36th minute on a breakaway goal, then again in the second half in the 48th minute with an assist from Hannah Marnocha. Pagosa Springs’ Diana Scott had eight saves at goalkeeper.
Bayfield (5-2-1, 5-1-1 3A Region 5 League) had Savannah Kaufmann in goal with the team’s usual goalkeeper ineligible. Kaufmann’s presence in the field was obviously missed. Kaufmann had five saves. Freshman Taelor Higgins came in at goalkeeper and finished with two saves.
“Savannah is very good at goalkeeper, but she’s so valuable in the attack, and not having her up takes a lot away,” Zelinski said. “She adds a lot of scoring opportunities.”
Pagosa Springs (7-3-0, 7-1-0) outshot Bayfield 14-12 and had more shots on goal than the Wolverines. Maddy Duran had a chance to score in the 81st minute when the senior drilled a 23-yard rocket from midfield. Scott was able to make a great save.
Bayfield will take on Center at 4 p.m. Monday at Bayfield High School.
“We need to rebound quickly because we have Center on Monday,” Zelinski said. “We must find passion and drive. We must accept it and move on from the loss and do better.”
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
