Sweet Home’s boys soccer team finished its season with a reasonable shot at stopping seventh-ranked Junction City at home Thursday evening.
The Huskies lost the game 3-2, capping the team’s best season on record.
“We probably should have taken home a tie,” said Coach Eric Stutzer. “We still played well. They played extremely well for Junction City, one of their best games of the year. They played like a team on fire. Junction City was pretty rattled.”
About 20 minutes into the first half, Junction City scored one goal and then immediately put a second shot into the net to lead 2-0.
“Their guy came in,” Stutzer said. “He didn’t hit the ball. He hit the keeper.”
Nik Dishaw had the soccer ball, Stutzer said, but the Junction City player collided with him, possibly cracking Dishaw’s ribs and hurting his leg and knocking the ball in.
The ref said Dishaw didn’t have control over the ball, Stutzer said. Injured, Dishaw couldn’t hold off the next attack.
Stutzer had to pull him out and put in Rowland Lupoli, Stutzer said.
“Rowland played a great game. He came out and made some great saves, great stops. We won’t miss a beat next year with Rowland.”
The Huskies got themselves fired up at halftime, Stutzer said. They were able to get the crowd involved, and five minutes into the half, Alonso Perez scored out of a melee in front of the box.
Five minutes later, Nick Rodgers kicked a lob into the goal from 20 to 25 yards out, Stutzer said.
About 10 minutes later, Junction City came back with the game winner, Stutzer said. “They had to play to beat us.”
Stutzer said he had to change his lineup out of necessity when Dishaw came out, and it worked really well. He moved Egan Shamek and Perez to the wings, disrupting Junction City’s double-team defense against Shamek.
Stutzer decided the team needed more size and aggressive play up front, so he moved T.J. Baham and Ramon Fry forward. With that move, the Huskies started doing something Stutzer has been after all season, “a lot of nice slanting runs out of midfield that really tested Junction City defenses.
“I felt like that was a very even game, against a top-notch team.”
The game was more like those the Huskies played at the beginning of the season when they won their first three.
It was the first time since their third game, against Valley Catholic, that they fielded a full team. Rawlins Lupoli made a difference in the JV game, and he played two minutes of varsity, Stutzer said. He had broken his leg in the Valley Catholic game.
Stuzer estimated Lupoli was at 50 percent. Dishaw was still sore from a game against Cottage Grove, but the roster was full for the first time since Sept. 11.
“It’s a very tight-knit team,” Stutzer said. The Huskies have dispensed with their pockets of players and embraced team unity. That was really evident in the Junction City game.
“I’m very, very proud of the way that they played,” Stutzer said.
The Huskies lost 2-0 to Elmira on the road on Oct. 20. Elmira led 1-0 at halftime.
“I thought that we played well with Elmira,” Stutzer said. The stats across the board, corner kicks, shots, fouls, were dead even. “I just thought it was a really great game on our part and a really good game on their part.”
He had three players out on injuries, and Dishaw was playing, but not at 100 percent.
“We were having a really hard time getting shots off,” Stutzer said, and Tristan Graham’s absence in the defense was a factor in Elmira’s scoring.
Stutzer had to pull Rodgers back to defense, and Elmira double-teamed Shamek on offense. He couldn’t get loose, but Quinn Dinsfriend had the game of his life, shooting four of the Huskies ‘five shots on goal. Elmira had eight shots on the game.
“Quinn was an animal,” Stutzer said. “He missed a couple of real close shots.”
Swiss exchange student Rasit Erdogan led Elmira against the Huskies this season, Stutzer said. Last time the Huskies saw Elmira, he scored a pair of goals. They focused on him this time, but he still laced a shot at 20 yards.
“We shut him down the rest of the game, but the damage was done,” Stutzer said.
Overall this season, “I would’ve liked to go to playoffs,” Stutzer said. Had the Huskies defeated Elmira, they would have had a play-in game.
But not to detract from their opponents, Elmira and Cottage Grove both stepped up their games this year, Stutzer said.
“This was a historic season for the program,” Stutzer said. They had more wins than any other year combined since 2009. The Huskies finished the season in fifth place in league, with a record of 2-8. They had an overall record of 5-9.
They scored 26 goals this year, double their best past performance. They gave up 34 goals, half of their previous best. They had their best opening, winning three games in a row. Two players, Shamek and Perez, ended the season with double hat tricks, three goals in a game.
They also didn’t struggle as much at keeper as they have in past years, Stutzer said. He praised Dishaw, who graduates this year, and looks forward to seeing Rowland Lupoli, a sophomore, return to the position next season.
This team accomplished a lot it’s never done in the past, Stutzer said. “It comes down to the small things. We’re in one of the most competitive leagues in the state.’
The teams are even across the league, he said. The scores aren’t lopsided, and the games usually come down to just a couple of mistakes in a game.
Most of the other programs have already experienced the growing pains, Stutzer said, and they’ve learned how to win the close ones.
“I’m feeling extremely good about this year,” he said. The other coaches noticed how much the Huskies have improved.
Sweet Home’s next step is to “understand how to win the close ones,” Stutzer said.
Injuries took their toll and contributed to the tough season his team faced too, Stutzer said. The Huskies had two ankle injuries, one with a hemorrhage; two concussions; a broken leg; cracked ribs; a cracked patella; an injured shoulder; two severe ankle sprains; and the normal soccer injuries.
“We were just decimated at every point since the Valley Catholic game,” Stutzer said. “It was a season that tested character.”
And at the end, they showed their character. The final half, fired up and ready to go, with 10-plus pass progressions and control over the soccer ball, “boy did they put a pretty game together,” Stutzer said. “They slammed every record in the book for us.”
The Huskies graduate nine seniors this year.
They will hold their annual awards dessert at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 12.