A stubborn Huskies defense held off a relentless assault from the Sisters Outlaws for most of a half before giving up a goal in boys soccer at home on Thursday night.
The Huskies lost the game 6-0, with five of the goals coming in the second half.
Jadon Bachtold broke it open for the Outlaws, knocking the ball in against the top of the goal, 35 minutes into the game.
Keeper Nic Dishaw couldn’t reach it, said Coach Eric Stutzer said, and he had an outstanding half, stopping 18 other shots on goal.
“We had an amazing defensive stand, especially in the first half,” Stutzer said. Dishaw was impressive. “Everything he could do something about, he stopped.”
And they had to because the Huskies didn’t get much offense in during that game. They had no shots on goal in the first half.
“I don’t think anybody was expecting Sisters to come out that good,” Stutzer said, not even after their early non-league performances. He thought Cottage Grove had the edge in the league this year, but at this point, Sisters still might have it, even after losing many seniors.
The Outlaws changed up their offense coming out of midfield, Stutzer said, and it worked even better than before. And no one knew who Domingo Monterola, who was fast, capable of running down Sweet Home forward Egan Shamek.
“We did get a little better offensively in the second half,” Stutzer said.
Sisters scored three more goals out of the gate in the second half to take a 4-0 lead, Stutzer said, but the Huskies were able to compose themselves and hold off the Outlaws till the end of the game when they scored another couple of goals.
He credited Tristan Graham with a tough defense. When Graham came out of the game, Sisters scored three goals. It happened before, against Creswell. Stutzer pulled Graham, and Creswell scored on his side of the field.
While Sisters organized a new, powerful attack, “we were very disorganized on the offensive end,” Stutzer said. The Huskies have relied on speed to carry their offense, but facing someone who’s just as fast, they need to play more careful soccer.
The Huskies also held Colton Mannhalter to zero goals, Stutzer said. That was a goal, but hMannhalter and his team worked around the defense with their new offense.
Newport 3, Sweet Home 0
The Huskies lost 3-0 to Newport on the road on Sept. 15.
Newport scored early, Stuzer said, and then the Husky defense held until late in the second half when Newport scored two.
“Newport’s a great team,” Stutzer said. “They’re not Sisters, but they’re ranked hi in a competitive league. I felt we competed well. But we had a lot of defensive errors. There was a lot of whiffs. I think a lot of that had to do with our players who were sick.”
About 10 players were sick or injured that day, and it was still impacting them against Sisters two days later, Stutzer said.
“Statistically, we were very even,” he said. “We just could not get a shot on the goal.”
The Huskies shot the ball nine times against Newport. Newport shot it 12 times.
The Huskies were scheduled to play at Sutherlin on Tuesday. They’ll host Cottage Grove at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Elmira at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29.
The Huskies are 3-2 overall and 0-1 in league play. They are now 11th in Oregon School Activities Association rankings, while Sisters has moved to third.