The Huskies lost 7-0 at second-ranked Sisters on Thursday.
Sisters scored six goals in the first half, said Huskies Coach Eric Stutzer. Then the Huskies righted their ship, allowing just one goal in the second half.
“They decided they couldn’t beat them before they even got off the bus,” Stutzer said. He believes the loss was in the mental game. After an epic defensive stand in the first half of a game earlier in the season, Sisters scored five goals in the second half.
The Huskies lost the next three games before seeing Sisters again.
“I think it was a missed opportunity,” Stutzer said. “We had the opportunity to really take it to a team and show some character. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Huskies also learned to take things a little less seriously and remember to have fun, Stutzer said. That’s what captain Nick Rodgers told his team at halftime.
The Huskies returned to the field and played much better, allowing just one goal.
“I think they just lost the fun element of the game,” Stutzer said, something that started happening after early success, and he wants to see this team get back there, to the point where it was before it was beaten and bludgeoned with injuries as well.
“Soccer is way more of a mental game that it is a physical real game,” Stutzer said. “It usually comes down to one mistake.
“I was proud of how this team played the second half. They started having fun.”
After halftime, Nic Dishaw moved to midfield to help cope with the physicality of the game, and Rowland Lupoli filled in at keeper, Stutzer said. Both played really well in those off positions. Ramon Fry played a great game start to finish, playing every position on the field at one point or another.
The Huskies were scheduled to host Sutherlin on Tuesday, 6 p.m.; travel to Cottage Grove on Thursday, 7 p.m.; and to Elmira on Oct. 20, 6 p.m.