歪歪漫画

BRAINERD 鈥� The Bemidji Lumberjacks scored a goal in each half to steal a 2-0 Section 8-3A victory over the Brainerd Warriors Thursday, Sept. 26, at Adamson Field.

Bemidji held a 12-8 shots-on-goal advantage and Isabel Renn scored with 6:52 left in the first half to give the Lumberjacks momentum into halftime.

鈥淐onfidence makes a difference in any game and I think that goal gave us a little push,鈥� Bemidji head coach Logan Larsen said.

Warriors鈥� head coach Grant Gmeinder liked the effort his team showed despite the loss.

鈥淏emidji is a team that pressures really hard and really high up the field,鈥� Gmeinder said. 鈥淭hey were going to make it tough on us to move the ball and find passes. For sure that whole first half, I thought we were frantic and did not handle their pressure as well as we could. Overall, I thought we held them pretty well and they did not get many great scoring chances.鈥�

The turning point in the second half came when Lilly DeRosier was handed two yellow cards in the span of four minutes, which resulted in a red card and left the Warriors a player short for the final 18:06.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

鈥淚t was unfortunate tonight that the red card happened,鈥� Gmeinder said. 鈥淐ertainly not something I think that was deserved, but also not something that we can control. I just love the way our girls still competed after the red card. I definitely thought it was closer than a 2-0 game.鈥�

It did not take long for the Lumberjacks to capitalize on the player advantage as Kate Corradi scored a goal with 15:26 left to make it 2-0.

鈥淏rainerd pressed harder and changed their back formation a little to load the top, so we still had to go against a tough defense,鈥� Larsen said.

Brainerd鈥檚 Chloe Patrick stopped 10 shots and Bemidji goalkeeper Clara Bieber notched eight saves.

鈥淏rainerd played very well, so a lot of the game came down to those 50-50 balls and the extra effort made in tight spaces and tight touches,鈥� Larsen said. 鈥淚t was a very tight game.鈥�

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

Larsen said the win over Brainerd gets the Lumberjacks closer to hosting a playoff game for the first time in school history when playing in Class 3A.

鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to seeing if we get that opportunity,鈥� Larsen said.

The Warriors play the loser of Duluth East and Irondale at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, in Duluth East. Brainerd is back home against Alexandria Tuesday, Oct. 1.

鈥淚 think our girls are excited to have all these games in a row,鈥� Gmeinder said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had a little bit of a lull with homecoming and a couple of less competitive games. They will be ready for Saturday.鈥�

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch

Bemidji 2, Brainerd 0

Bemidji 鈥� Renn 33'; Corradi 65'.

Brainerd 鈥� No scoring.

Saves 鈥� Bieber (BEM) 8; Patrick (BRD) 10.

Kelly Humphrey / Brainerd Dispatch