The girls soccer team snatched a 1-0 win at Cascade and then tied Sisters 1-1 at home last week.
“It was scary,” said Coach Ramiro Santana. “We had our moments one way then the other way. We won against Cascade, and then we were actually losing against Sisters. In the last minute, we ended up tying and almost winning.”
The Huskies played Cascade evenly, Santana said. The first half, the ball was locked up in the midfield.
“I really thought we’d end up being tied nothing (to nothing),” Santana said, then the Huskies started getting some movement and a few shots on goal.
With about 15 minutes left in the game, Chloe Fairchild had a good run from the left side, Santana said. She took a shot a little outside the goal area, slipping the ball past the diving goalie at the right corner.
The next 15 minutes felt long as the Huskies were under pressure to keep their lead, Santana said, but they kept up their energy and kept up the pressure up on Cascade to get the win.
Sisters gave the Huskies a harder time early on.
“They were pressuring us a little,” Santana said. “They had the ball more than we did.”
The Huskies had their opportunities but couldn’t connect, while Huskies keeper Mo Curtis did a good job fending off repeated Sisters attacks.
With about 18 minutes left in the game, Sisters drew a foul from Toree Hawken on defense and scored on a penalty kick to go ahead 1-0.
Within the last five minutes, Fairchild took the ball from the right side, almost like a corner kick and drew a foul against Sisters.
Santana called on Natalie Rodgers to kick the penalty.
“They thought it was going to be a pass,” Santana said, because the ball was so far out. “So I told her to take the shot at goal. She curved it into the top corner of the goal (tying the game 1-1).”
The team is starting to figure things out while adjusting to new positions, Santana said. Among changes, Santana moved Hawken from offense to defense, moving the team’s best speed to the back.
“She’s been saving us quite a bit,” Santana said, and the team still has some speed up front.
As the girls get used to their positions, they’ll keep getting better, Santana said. He expected the Newport game scheduled for Tuesday evening to be a test for the team.
The Huskies will visit Woodburn at 6 p.m. Thursday evening and host Philomath at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 8.