Aug. 24—BEMIDJI — The high school girls soccer teams from Bemidji and Buffalo combined to score eight goals in 17 Section 8-3A games in 2022. So it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that the majority of Thursday’s season opener between the two teams was low-scoring.
The Bison’s 2-1 victory over the Lumberjacks at Bemidji Middle School looked like a defensive struggle filled with many near-miss chances. But the match flipped on its head once Buffalo took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the second half.
Natalie Flynn scored the opening goal on a crossing pass from Olivia Luc in the 47th minute. It sparked a sense of urgency from the Jacks, leading to a back-and-forth battle in the final half hour.
One of Bemidji’s best chances came in the final 30 minutes, when Addy McCrady fielded a touch near the goal. She was bumped off of the ball, and then the play resumed toward midfield after a clearing kick by Buffalo goalkeeper Peyton Anderson. In a matter of seconds, Flynn was on the offensive, running toward the Bemidji goal before she was tripped up by Matjea Malterud.
Buffalo was awarded a chance to double its lead with a penalty kick. It would later prove to be sophomore Clara Bieber’s breakthrough moment as a goalkeeper.
“I’m very proud of her,” Jacks’ head coach Logan Larsen said of Bieber stopping her first PK attempt. “Don King, our goalkeeper coach, has been working with her tightly. His willingness to give us his time has quickly pulled along several of our goalkeepers.”
Bieber spent her freshman soccer season playing as a forward. But two departing senior keepers left an absence in the goal area. In stepped Bieber, who made her first varsity start in goal on Thursday with eight saves.
“She has such a strong mindset,” Larsen said. “She doesn’t get too much into her own head. She knows her stuff, for the most part. What she can do better can be tweaked, but the way she reads the game, the way she reacts, I think she’s just a person with a lot of composure.”
Bieber’s penalty-kick save sparked the Lumberjacks to an equalizing goal from senior Hannah Voge. Kate Corradi ripped a close-angle shot off the crossbar before the ball bounced to Voge’s forehead. She redirected the ball into the goal in the 67th minute.
“It’s something you always ask your forwards to do, follow their shots,” Larsen said. “(Voge) did, and she was hungry. Kate Corradi was super hungry the whole time, and she’s creative too. That just adds unpredictability to us so much. She has such a tight shot. We have the pieces to be a strong team this year. We just have to make the most of them.”
The Bison regained a one-goal advantage four minutes later off the foot of Kami Moser from roughly 25 yards out. She lofted a ball into the sun just over the outstretched hand of Bieber for the game-winning goal.
Bemidji pushed for a second game-tying goal in the final minutes but fell short. Anderson thwarted any Bemidji shot that crept toward the goal mouth. Though after a first half where the Jacks struggled to find their footing, Larsen was pleased with the way his girls finished.
“We didn’t pack the center (of the field) up top as much,” Larsen said. “We spread that out, and that gave us more time to move the ball up the field. In terms of how that took away their ability to possess, I think it just became harder for their defenders to swing the ball through the backline.”
Near the midway point of each half, officials stopped the game to allow each team to get a water break in a sweltering day under the sun.
“Typically, you only see (water breaks) in the summer,” Larsen said. “It’s a health issue. It’s a common-sense, kind movement by the refs to allow those breaks for both teams.
“I’m extremely grateful (Buffalo) came up here. The 17 girls we had tonight are extremely fit, and I don’t feel like we ran out of gas. That kept us from getting cramps and stuff like that. We’ll be adding (players) as the season goes on after we’ve had a longer look. The roster will get bigger, and the playing time will be more spread out. But for tonight, I thought they handled it very well.”
Buffalo 2, Bemidji 1
BUF 0 2 — 2
BHS 0 1 — 1
First half — No scoring.
Second half — 1, BUF GOAL, Flynn (Luc), 47′; 1, BHS GOAL, Voge (unassisted), 67′; 2, BUF GOAL, Kam. Moser (unassisted), 71′.
Saves — Bieber (BHS) 8; Anderson (BUF) 2.