Staff
The Huskies made a big stand in the first quarter of the game against Elmira in boys soccer at home Thursday, but Elmira broke away before halftime to beat the Huskies 5-0.
“The first 20 to 25 minutes were great, I think surprisingly great,” said Coach Eric Stutzer. The inexperienced and small team exceeded the coaches’ expectations, a defensive game of holding off their opponents.
“They came out of the gate and put pressure on (Elmira),” Stutzer said. Elmira was “panicked a little bit. We had some of those opportunities on the back side.”
Things changed after “a weird call” against Noah Dinsfriend when Elmira scored an free indirect kick, Stutzer said. “I think it broke the momentum a little bit.”
The Huskies were getting a bit tired by that point too, Stutzer said. The team doesn’t have many subs, just four last week, but the team was in a subbing situation.
In a 10- to 15-minute lapse in the first half, Elmira scored three more goals to lead 4-0 at halftime, Stutzer said, noting the Falcons’ high shot percentage. Elmira took just eight shots on the game and scored five of them. The Huskies took seven shots.
The Huskies contended with a lack of depth, Stutzer said. They were tired and inexperienced.
“I really think fatigue was a factor,” he said, but players across the board stepped up, with stand-out performances by Seth Gaylord at forward and Cole Mizsei at mid.
Keeper Tristan Calkins did a good job in his first soccer game, Stutzer said. Bradley Wolthuis, Austin Parrish and Andrew Baham all played really well, and Judah Christman “played very, very well especially being stuck on defense his first time on varsity.”
With one pre-league game and no jamboree, Stutzer said, the Huskies will hit the gauntlet early.
The Huskies were scheduled to face Woodburn, last year’s 5A state champion, on Tuesday followed by trips to Philomath on Thursday and last year’s 4A runner-up, Stayton, next Tuesday.
“Philomath is looking better than I expected,” Stutzer said. “They’re definitely not in a down year.”
With those teams, the Huskies will see their opponents scoring goals, Stutzer said, and the Huskies will keep improving, working on sound fundamentals, keeping possession of the ball, being competitive and being better every single game.
If they can improve every game, “when we hit Cascade, Cascade will topple,” Stutzer said, and maybe the Huskies can topple Sisters.
They’ll continue to work on their conditioning too, Stutzer said. “Our conditioning isn’t where it needs to be.”
Many of the Huskies – many of whom are new to the sport – haven’t had a ball on their foot or practiced until a couple of weeks ago, Stutzer said.
How they react to Woodburn will be key how well their season will be, Stutzer said. “If they power back against Philomath, show structure and aren’t yelling at each other, you’ve done your job as a coach. You’re talking about Woodburn, you’re talking about playing through adversity and showing composure.”
Stutzer said he is “looking for a lot of grit down the stretch.”