After taking on two of the toughest teams in the area, Stayton and Mollala in their first two official games of the season, the Sweet Home boys soccer team seemed due for a turnaround Monday against Tillamook.
Alas, it didn’t happen, but the boys will have another chance to get that first W Thursday when they travel to Yamhill-Carlton.
“This was a winnable game,” said Coach Al Grove after the Huskies lost 3-1 to the Cheesemakers “Mentally, we weren’t there today.”
Sweet Home is 0-3 halfway through its second week of the season and the young Huskies still need to develop confidence and be more aggressive if they want to win, Grove said.
“When they score, we’re taking ourselves out of the game,” he said. “We hang our heads and start walking. We’re watching the ball, waiting for it to come to us instead of going after it.
“We’ve got to work on attacking the ball.”
Sophomore Mitchell Grove scored the only goal for Sweet Home.
Mollala 5, Sweet Home 2
A combination of defensive struggles and some questionable officiating did the Huskies in quickly Thursday against a veteran Molalla squad.
“Our kids have to learn not to get frustrated,” Grove said after the Huskies lost a goal to a referee’s call and freshman Alex Santana got a yellow card after outjumping an opponent and winning the ball in the air.
“They were an experienced team,” Grove said of the Indians, who had 11 seniors on their roster. The Huskies played freshman Santana and seven sophomores, with one senior.
“We played a much better second half,” Grove said. “We’re coming along. We have to be patient. I have to be patient.
Stayton 7, Sweet Home 3
The Huskies opened their season at Stayton, where a veteran team that finished last season with two losses, the second coming 3-1 in the playoffs to the eventual state 4A champion.
“We played a very tough first half,” Grove said, noting that the score was tied 3-3 at halftime. “They have a very deep bench, just like Molalla. They had 20-some kids on varsity.”
Sweet Home had 12 players on its varsity bench, the lone sub being senior Jered Severns.
“It’s tough when you’re playing 12 against 20,” Grove said. He said he hopes to add some players to the varsity roster when some latecomers to the team work themselves into shape.