Benny Westcott
In 2019, Sweet Home’s girls soccer squad played 14 games, finishing with a record of 2-9-3.
In the fall of 2020, they only got two matches in, going 1-1, and losing a hard-fought scrimmage against the boys team.
But now, in Season 2 of OSAA’s revised competition schedule, the Huskies have eight contests scheduled, starting Wednesday, March 3.
One of the two teams the Lady Huskies beat in 2019, Cascade, will be the girls’ opponent at their season and home opener on March 3.
Head Coach Ramiro Santana, in his 13th year with the Huskies, said he’s waiting to see what materializes on the pitch when his team takes the field – more so than usual.
“We have a very short season, so it’s going to be different,” he said. “It’s kind of difficult to project or say things about what’s going to happen.”
Roster size is a challenge at this point. In 2019, Sweet Home had 36 girls participate in the soccer program, including varsity and junior varsity. This year, they have only 20, and head coach Ramiro Santana says he may not be able to field a JV team this season.
“If we don’t have more sign up by this coming Monday and Tuesday we will only have a varsity team,” he said last week.
The Huskies are experienced. Their 20-player roster consists mostly of upperclassmen, with 10 seniors and five juniors.
Those seniors are Alaina Curtiss, Emily Farthing, Jillian Lynn, Olivia Martineau, Sicily Neuschwander, Esther Ramsey, Katie Robeck, Natalie Rodgers, Maren Weld and Crystal Wolf.
Juniors are Meagan Baham, Chloe Fairchild, Andra Gordon, Maddie Harris and Jenna Wolthuis.
Sophomores Brookelynn Burke and Iris Erickson, and freshmen Ivy Dewitte, Zianna Duncan and Rylee Markell round out the roster as of press time.
The girls have had only one week of practice to prepare for their upcoming matches, with two more training sessions slated before their first game.
“We always have good hopes,” Santana said. “We will see what happens.”
As far as the girls’ competition goes, Santana said “our league is tough.”
The coach also noted how his team will have to face unusual circumstances this year with the pandemic.
“I hope we do well,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a surprise for us just like it would be for anybody.”
Santana said the Huskies are strong in “defense, mids and forwards. We’ve got a few girls that know how to play the game.”
As far as weaknesses that the team needs to work on, Santana said, “it would probably be our passing and a little bit of our dribbling.” He also mentioned that the team doesn’t have a designated goalie yet, though Gordon wore the gear for team photos.
“I still have not done a whole lot of scrimmages because we just want to drill right now,” Santana said.