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But once the Blazers scored a goal to narrow the deficit to 2-1, it seemed to give them a lift, and they seized the moment away from the Warriors.

Kalkaska had eight shots on goal in the first half, but Forest Area goalkeeper Tina Preston turned them all away. But the Warriors could manage only a 1-0 lead.

"We had a talk at halftime," Blazers' coach Andrei Henegariu said. "After that, it seemed that our team just came out of nowhere. The communication was much better between the players."

Avery Diola scored off an assist from goalkeeper Jessica Gunderson to trigger the Blazers' second half rally.

Forest Area had only three shots at the goal after taking their 2-0 lead, as the Blazers' defense buttoned things up. Its' goalkeeper, Tina Preston, made 22 saves before a shoulder injury forced her from the game.

Diola scored three more goals. Hannah Lantzer had an assist for the Blazers on one of the goals.

Elk Rapids, which is 9-4-1 overall after winning three games last week, dominated last Thursday's contest for a 7-1 victory. The Elks are 6-3 in the Lake Michigan Conference.

Avery Diola had the Blazers' only goal, on assist from Erica Fox. Jessica Gunderson finished with 14 saves in goal for the Blazers. Last Monday, the Blazers defeated Grayling, 5-1 in another LMC matchup.

Avery Diola had three of Kalkaska's goals, while Hannah Lantzer netted the other two.

Diola assisted on Lantzer's goals as the two combined to provide the Blazers' offensive punch. Erica Fox added an assist on one of Diola's goals.

The Blazers had 26 shots on goal, and limited Grayling to just five in the game.

Blazers' coach Andrei Henegariu felt the team should have found the net a few more times, and won by a considerably larger margin than it did.

Grayling's only goal, in fact, came on a penalty kick with only two minutes left in the game.

"It wasn't our greatest game," Henegariu said. "I told the girls to take shots. You never know what is going to happen. And a few of them went on.

"Compared to our other games, we brought our shots up. But, we still didn't play as well as we could have, I didn't think."

Kalkaska enjoyed a 2-0 lead at the half, and built its lead up to 5-0 before Grayling was given it's chance to score with the penalty kick.

Jessica Gunderson notched the win in goal for the Blazers, making four saves. She had a chance to reject the penalty kick as well, getting her hands near the ball as it went past her by the slimmest of margins.

She also had a rare shot on goal, as the gusting wind took one of her kicks and sailed it high toward the Grayling goal. But the Grayling keeper finally realized it might go in, and tipped it away.

"You don't see that every day," Henegariu said. "But, the wind was blowing pretty hard, and the next thing you know ... it (the ball) was done there."