Sweet Home came out flat against Newport last week, but showed strong improvement as they faced off against Woodburn, one of the toughest boys soccer teams in the state.
The Huskies fell 10-0 at Newport on Oct. 1 and then 13-0 to Woodburn at home Thursday.
The team might have suffered from a self-induced sugar coma going into the game against the Cubs, said Coach Eric Stutzer. His soccer players spent time down on the bay front and ate prior to the game.
All of that activity might have had an adverse impact on the game, he said. The center of the defense was an improvement over previous games, but the wings “were just kind of stepping out of position.”
The defenders were challenging their opponents too far out, and the midfield wings weren’t tracking back to their positions, Stutzer said. The offense would run a play, and the wings would be out of position, allowing Newport to score running up the outside.
The Huskies addressed those problems at halftime, and “it really seemed to make a difference, but by that point, it was a little too late.”
Those adjustments carried on into the next game, against Woodburn, he said.
Offensively, the Huskies got a couple of good looks in front of the net, about four or five good shots that didn’t go in, Stutzer said. “We are creating opportunities.”
At keeper, Tristan Calkins started the game and collected 14 saves, including one against a penalty kick, Stutzer said.
“I really felt like Tristan did a good job as keeper.”
Two of Newport’s goals were penalty kicks, Stutzer said. “There were some calls that cost us big.”
The second goal of the game was a penalty kick, which “was really deflating for the kids,” he said.
Moving on to Woodburn, “I felt like we righted the ship,” Stutzer said. That said, while his players mostly have one or two years of experience, Woodburn players have been playing together since they were little.
“I did feel like some of the things we struggled with against Newport were righted,” Stutzer said. “I really felt like that the defense did better, that we showed up to play.”
It was probably the team’s second best game of the season, he said. The opposing coach pulled Stutzer aside, saying it looked like a totally different team than earlier this year.
Stutzer said Woodburn normally holds back at some point, but Woodburn had to keep the “gas on the entire game.”
That was thanks to the Huskies defensive improvements, he said. Sweet Home let in a couple of goals it probably should not have, but the defense was properly staggered around the field, instead of folding into a U-shape.
The defense and keepers Evan Towry and Zach Zanona had some great saves and great defensive blocks, with better positioning.
Towry and Zanona had seven saves each, and “Evan Towry had some really great saves,” Stutzer said, adding that Towry is a freshman making senior-level decisions, and for him to be doing as well as he is doing is commendable.
The program is now up to five keepers, Stutzer said, and they’re all putting up a lot of saves right now.
Sweet Home struggled to get its offense going, but the Huskies got a couple of shots off, Stutzer said. In the past, though, they would start a run and be stopped before the halfway line.
“I felt like the communication was better,” Stutzer said, but the team ended up fatigued with 10 to 15 minutes left.
“All in all, that was the best in the two years that we’ve played Woodburn,” Stutzer said. The opponents felt like that had to work at it.
“We need to work on a lot of things,” he said. “We have a long way to go.”
The Huskies still need to win the 50-50 balls and fix the midfield, but they’ve come a long way too, Stutzer said. They’ve made some big improvements that didn’t translate to scoring.
The Huskies were scheduled to visit Philomath Tuesday. They have a bye Thursday and will travel to Stayton on Oct. 15.