The field hockey team fell to the 6-1 Blake Bengals Sept. 29 5-1, lowering its record to 4-3.

The Bengals came out aggressively on offense, scoring three goals in the first half. Forward Caroline Wannen was the key to many of their offensive plays, so the Vikings decided to man-mark her in the second half.

“We tried to shut her down because if we eliminated her from the plays, they wouldn’t know what to do without her,” midfielder Krishna Jaitly said.

The Vikes adjusted their focus in the second half, sending the ball up the field to open up more passing lanes.

“As a team, [the Bengals] tended to have two people on the player with the ball, so we realized that we needed to release the ball to get it up the field,” Jaitly said.

The Vikes were able to break the Bengals’ defense when forward Sydney Markus netted a goal to halt Blair’s efforts toward a shut-out.

Though it was a tough loss, the team gained insight from the game, taking note of Blake’s style of play to prepare for a possible rematch in the play-offs, Jaitly said.

The Vikes look to bounce back as they travel to face the 5-3 B-CC Barons Oct. 2.