Sweet Home’s girls soccer team beat Newport 1-0 at home in the Huskies’ final game of the season to snap a seven-game losing streak and pick up their first win this year.
Kate Hawken scored the goal in the 32nd minute of the first half, putting the ball back in after a shot by Natalie Rodgers bounced off a post.
“It was a fun one,” said Coach Ramiro Santana. “The girls played hard. We decided to move some players in the field to do a little different look from the first time we played them.”
They turned out to be more competitive that way, he said. The two teams went back and forth, with the Huskies taking quite a few good shots that bounced off posts or were stopped by Newport’s keeper.
Senior Sydney Mauer, who had been out the last half of the season, played early in the game and had a chance with a penalty kick, but the goalie grabbed it.
He said he never had so many girls out with injuries or playing while hurt, but they were able to make appearances in last week’s game.
After scoring, the Huskies held on for the remainder of the game to secure the win.
The team was grateful for the crowd that showed up that night, Santana said, and there was “a lot of yelling and people going crazy. It was a good night, especially being senior night and the way our season went.”
The team proved a few people wrong, he said. A young team without the club experience of its rivals and just five seniors moving into a tougher new league, the game showed Sweet Home can compete.
Earlier in the season, the Huskies tied Cascade, he said. “We had four or five games where we gave them a bad time. This will make us think about it next year. I wish it would’ve turned out better. We did Ok. We did what we could this first year in a new league.”
The team and coaching will need to work more in the off-season to be more successful against Oregon West teams, he said.
“The girls are amazing,” Santana said. They never give up, and the team as a whole learned quite a bit this year that can help them improve their game next season.
Santana also thanked the parents for their patience.