Benicia High’s girls varsity soccer team nearly had visiting Vanden beat last Thursday night but settled for a 1-1 tie in a key Solano County Athletic Conference game at Drolette Stadium.

Brooke Maglia-Bast scored for Benicia in the sixth minute when her 25-yard shot got caught up in the wind and sailed over the head of Vanden’s goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead. It stayed that way until the 66th minute when an indirect free kick by Vanden’s Jacqueline Jensen bounced off both posts and went in to tie the game.

“We committed a dumb foul and gave them an opportunity to score,” said Benicia head coach Javier Martinez. “I thought we played outstanding in the first half but then we laid an egg in the second half. We became a kickball team and didn’t make many good passes.”

The tie kept Benicia (4-1-2) one point behind both Vanden (4-0-3) and American Canyon (5-2-0) for first place in the SCAC with three games remaining in the regular season. The Lady Panthers got some help when Vallejo upset American Canyon, 1-0.

“It was nice to get a point but we really needed three points,” Martinez said. “Now we’ll have to concentrate on winning these last three games and hope things work out for us.”

Benicia plays at Fairfield on Tuesday.

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