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Boys Soccer Faces Challenging Week, Tributes Late Teammate

By Kristine Banker
For The New Era

The Huskies boys’ soccer team faced a challenging week, beginning with a tough 7-0 loss to North Marion on Tuesday and concluded with an emotional Senior Night against East Linn, where the team paid tribute to their late teammate,Tison Monahan.

Tuesday’s game saw Sweet Home falling to North Marion in a 7-0 defeat – a step forward from the previous matchup, which ended early under the mercy rule, 8-0.

“The kids played with passion and minimized the mistakes that had plagued us in previous matches,” Coach Eric Stutzer said. “We held them to 1-0 at half-time which was a big turnaround from our first match when they blew us out. Unfortunately we faced some adversity with about 20 minutes left in the match and lost some key players which quickly changed the dynamic of the game to their favor.”

Proud parents and fans cheered the team’s effort, with one parent echoing the coach’s words, saying, “The boys are getting better, little by little. And we are proud of that.”

The setting gave a hopeful tone for the week, but with Thursday, Sweet Home lost to Stayton with a mercy rule 9-0 in the first half.

“Those injuries followed us into the next match against No. 1 Stayton,” Stutzer said. “We had four starters on the bench and a couple more on the field who were only about 60%. With that much experience and skill out of the game we struggled to compete.”

Saturday’s game against East Linn began with celebrating Sweet Home’s senior players, Josh Aker, Gavin Gardner, Christian Justham and Ashton Swanson, and the Huskies honored their teammate Tison Monahan, who would have been a senior this year. Monahan passed away this summer and the team has felt his absence. In his memory, Elisha Scofield, Monahan’s close friend and fellow player, wore No. 9 for the night. He presented Monahan’s family with a gift basket from the team and stood with his family during senior family portraits.

In their match against East Linn, the Huskies fell 2-0, but they played with determination and heart. Coach Stutzer commended the team’s effort but recognizes “injuries and illness will continue to be factors we will have to overcome as we end the season with Cascade on Tuesday.”

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