The Sweet Home boys soccer team has shown improvement through the early games of the season and Thursday that improvement showed up on the scoreboard.
The Huskies beat Seaside at Warrington 2-1 for their first victory in two seasons, after going without a win last year.
“Hopefully, we’ve turned the corner,” said Coach Al Grove, whose team now stands at 1-3-2 going into league action against Central on Thursday after facing some of the state’s top 4A teams in its early preseason.
Grove said hustle was a big part of the win.
“They understand the difference between jogging for the ball versus sprinting for it,” he said of his Huskies.
Dakotah Keys started things off midway in the first half by scoring for Sweet Home on a one-on-one breakaway in front of the goal.
Seaside responded early in the second half with a goal to tie the score, but freshman Alex Santana scored from the right side shortly thereafter to put the Huskies ahead.
That’s when Sweet Home clamped down on defense and held the hosts scoreless for the rest of the match, Grove said.
The Huskies will open Val-Co League action at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Central, a team that is always in the hunt for the district title. A positive note for Sweet Home, and possibly an indication of how far the Huskies have progressed, is that the Panthers tied Scappoose, which Sweet Home also tied last week.
He said the Huskies need to play hard and play together to be successful.
“Our kids’ goal is to make the playoffs,” he said.
Sweet Home 1, Scappoose 1
It wasn’t the win the Huskies were shooting for, but it was the next best thing in their progression as a team as visiting Scappoose scored with 10 minutes left in the game to escape with a 1-1 tie Wednesday, Sept. 19.
“We played a lot better,” Grove said. “All the kids played hard the entire game. I thought the team played well as a group.”
Sweet Home had seven shots on goal, with the Huskies’ lone score coming early in the second half on a shot by Dakotah Keys.
Defensively, the Huskies put the clamps on Scappoose, limiting the visitors to five shots on goal.
“I thought the defense did a really good job in putting pressure on the ball,” Grove said.