After a great opening against Elmira, a fluke shot panicked the Huskies, steering them to a 5-1 loss in the first full game for the boys soccer team this season.
“All in all, the first 35 minutes of the game, we played pretty good,” said Coach Eric Stutzer.
Twelve to 15 minutes into the game, “Chase Lopez had a really great midfield play. He got a feed, put it right in the middle of the defense and had just a really great goal in the bottom right corner.”
He had been playing that way for about 10 minutes before the goal, Stutzer said, and the team had some good momentum.
Then the Falcons got some traction when a Sweet Home defender passed the ball back to the goalie, Stutzer said. The pass went bad, bounced off the post and into the net, tying the game 1-1.
“We didn’t overcome the emotional side of that,” Stutzer said. Elmira, whose defense had started to falter, regained momentum and put a shot into the net to go ahead 2-1.
Stutzer made adjustments to boost the experience level on the field, switching Tristan Calkins from goal to midfield and putting freshman Evan Towry in at keeper.
Ten minutes into the second half, Elmira was able to score another goal, and the Huskies were unable to recover, Stutzer said. “We were playing out of position the second half.”
The team lost its midfield and started getting too many people forward, Stutzer said, and Elmira started winning the transition game, scoring its final goal with about two minutes left on the game.
“That’s inexperience,” Stutzer said. The Huskies had a large number of first-year players on the field, with all but one player on the roster getting at least 10 minutes playing.
Stutzer said Chris and Caleb Christman, twins, both played good defense, while Mason Lopez was really impressive for someone playing his first actual game.
Chase Lopez, in his second year of soccer, had a phenomenal game at center mid, Stutzer said, and he gave 110 perecnt.
Defender J.J. Mata, another first-year player, played really well, Stutzer said. He was poised and did good things that could make some points for the Huskies.
While he played defender, he’s probably the team’s best shooter at this point, Stutzer said.
The game was a sign of the team’s inexperience and youth, Stutzer said. “When we’re facing adversity, it’s sometimes difficult to overcome that.”
The team was scheduled to visit Woodburn Tuesday, Sept. 10. The Huskies will host Philomath at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Stayton at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17.