The Huskies crushed Douglas High School 5-0 in boys soccer at home Thursday, giving them their first win of the season.
On Sept. 6, the Huskies lost at Tillamook 3-1.
Against Douglas, “I felt like the guys did some good things,” said Coach Eric Stutzer, but he felt like they had some room for improvement. The game exposed some weaknesses that a more talented team would “rip right open.”
“We needed that win,” Stutzer said. “I think it helps with confidence , and it helps us to see places we need to improve.”
The Huskies struggled at times to control the ball and pace of play, Stutzer said. “We were really trying to gut it down the middle on them.”
If it were Sisters, Junction City or Tillamook, the Huskies wouldn’t have won it, he said. This was the ideal game to see weaknesses, “before we have to pay for them. I think it’ was better to make it there than in league.”
Despite the mistakes, Stutzer said, “I think they did a good job. I think they did well.”
Austin Stevens came up with a hat trick, with additional goals by Ramon Mateo and Quinn Dinsfriend to get the win.
“To get Quinn in there with some scoring, that was really good for him to get in there and gain some confidence,” Stutzer said.
Stevens scored 15 minutes into the game and then again about the minute 25, building a 2-0 halftime lead.
Mateo scored five minutes into the second half. Stevens hit his third goal, and with about 15 minutes left, Dinsfriend scored.
“The cool part about Austin is he’s able to come up with those in traffic,” Stutzer said. He’s a sophomore, and he can still make some improvements.
On the defensive end, Rawlins Lupoli came up with an impossible save falling backward into the net, Stutzer said.
With Stevens, Noah Webb and Lupoli were probably the “most solid in their lanes doing what they’re supposed to do.”
After the game, the Huskies are 1-1-1.
The Huskies were scheduled to host Newport Tuesday. They will open league at Junction City on Thursday and then travel to Sisters next Tuesday.
Against Tillamook, “it was the game of missed opportunities,” Stutzer said. “We had some unlucky moments, and we had missed opportunities.”
Tillamook was undefeated until meeting Newport later last week, Stutzer said. “I thought Tillamook was a very winnable game.”
Tillamook went ahead five minutes into the game.
Goalie Rowland Lupoli had the ball, Stutzer said, but it hit his chin and bounced away. Another Tillamook player was there to put it into the net to lead 1-0 at halftime.
The Huskies outshot Tillamook 2-1 on the game, but Tillamook was extremely fast, worked the middle of the field and used its numbers, collapsing into the middle, Stutzer said. The Huskies took quite a few low-probability shots, moving up the field with numbers but pulling up and taking longer shots.
“Defense played relatively well,” Stutzer said, but a mistake early on allowed another Tillamook goal.
The game was still in reach, Stutzer said. “We were still struggling with pace of play. We really weren’t playing that finesse passing game we can do.”
Instead of playing from the outside of the field, he said, but when the Huskies did, they did well.
About halfway through the second half, Tristan Graham dribbled the ball up the sideline and got it to Dinsfriend on the corner. Dinsfriend passed it to Webb, who scored it.
“Noah played really well, I thought, the whole game,” Stutzer said, noting that Rawlins Lupoli also played well throughout the game.
Tillamook ran a great play down the field, using its speed, passing and movement to beat the Huskies defense and score the final goal of the game, Stutzer said.