[heading]Boys beat Blue Valley West 3-2.[/heading] Even as Rock Bridge and Blue Valley West varsity soccer players warmed up on the field Friday night, the cool temperatures and light mist played a key role in determining the events of the game.

With a final score of 3-2, the Bruins varsity team battled its way to victory through a constant drizzle and biting wind, as well as the opposing team. Just as constant as the weather were Blue Valley West’s attempts to turn the game back in their favor.

At 20 minutes into the first half, Rock Bridge forward Connor Blitz scored the first goal against Blue Valley West. Soon after, Blue Valley West senior Derek Bullis tied up the game with a goal of his own and junior Blake Goodale followed with another. The Bruins answered with three goal attempts, but the work of the Blue Valley West players kept the score at 2-1 for the remainder of the first half.

“I think we underperformed,” said Rock Bridge senior midfielder Jacob Kovarik. “We’re getting into a habit of playing down to our opponents when we know we can play better than them.”

As players took the field for the second half of the game, the Bruins seemed to bounce back from the difficult first half. At nine minutes in, Rock Bridge midfielder Austin Davis scored a goal, tying the game back up at 2-2. This was the case for many of the plays that followed, with saves being made by both goalies that kept fans on their toes. Then, with just 12 minutes left to play, Rock Bridge forward Zaiyan Chowdhury made an indirect kick that placed Rock Bridge in the lead, 3-2.

Blue Valley West tried hard to turn the tables back in their favor, passing the ball back and forth across the field in numerous attempts to score. With an injury on the field to Goodale and Rock Bridge’s repossessions of the ball, however, the game ended with Rock Bridge still holding strong to their lead.

Despite the Bruins’ win, Coach Alex Nichols still says the team could’ve done better.

“We ended up pulling out the victory, but it wasn’t a good performance,” he said. “There [were] a lot of mistakes, and these guys are better than that.”

Many of the players agreed with Nichols. “We just need to come out a lot harder and a lot tougher than we did,” said player #9, Tarnue Tyler. “This game doesn’t show what we can do…. We can play a lot better than this.”

By Nichole Schroeder and Kate Byars