Benny Westcott
The Sweet Home boys soccer team opened the season with a pair of road matchups, first losing to Klamath Union 8-2 on Aug. 28 and then drawing Elmira 3-3 on Aug. 31.
Against Klamath Union, senior Ben Tolman scored about six minutes into the game. Sweet Home’s other score came on a Pelican own goal before halftime.
“We struggled against KU to move the ball out of the middle of the field and played too linear,” said Head Coach Eric Stutzer. “This created a number of missed opportunities and put pressure on the defensive side, because forcing the ball provided KU with strong opportunities to counter with numbers. Although we were tied at halftime, we struggled to get into the attacking third in the second half. The smoke took a toll and we struggled to move the ball because players couldn’t make it back on defense.”
Against Elmira, Tolman scored two more goals, one in the 35th minute and another in the 48th minute, both assisted by sophomore Landon Savri. Savri himself scored in the 52nd minute, assisted by Tolman. Elmira scored in the 20th and 23rd minutes, and got their final goal with about five minutes left in regulation.
Stutzer said that the game showed “Lots of improvement from the KU game.”
The coach noted that “Passing was crisper, possession time was up, and we were able to stay in the attacking third and put shots on goal.”
He said that “We reverted to playing linear the last 20 minutes of the game and struggled to get up the field. Part of that was a conditioning issue and part of it was we got on our heels defensively and started forcing the ball. As a result, we struggled to get into the attacking third late in the game and started giving up a number of corner kicks. Those opportunities ultimately gave Elmira the equalizer.”
He said that “All in all there was some considerable improvement over our earlier contests. The boys did a great job coming back and keeping their composure despite being two goals down. They played unified and gave a strong effort on the road, which resulted in a tie. We have a very young and inexperienced team, so to see this type of improvement early in the season is a testament to their resiliency and is highly encouraging moving forward.”