The Husky boys soccer team opened league play with losses to Newport and Central.
Sweet Home a 4-0 loss at Newport on Thursday.
In a 3-0 hole at half, the Huskies came back strong in the second half but couldn’t climb out of the deficit.
The two teams had the same number of shots on goal, Coach Al Grove said. The Huskies had 14, and Newport had 15.
They had shots they should have finished off, Grove said, but they just couldn’t get the ball to the back of the net.
“We played well all the second half,” he said, but “you’ve got to get some in. It’s a different thing to lose when you’re not getting the same number of shots.”
But the Huskies were playing at or above the level as their opponent, Grove said, but it’s the goals that determines who wins.
“We’re passing the ball well,” he said. “We’re getting the crossing shots. We’ve got to put it in the net. Hitting the bar doesn’t count.”
In a 5-0 loss to Central, ranked fourth in the state and undefeated, on Monday, the Huskies held their own for most of the first half, holding the Panthers to one goal until just before halftime, when Central added one more.
In the second half, though, the Panthers stepped it up and the outmanned Huskies started to wear down as the visitors scored three more, two on headers off crosses in front of the goal.
“They’re by far the best team we have played and probably will play,” Grove said. “They’ve got more athletes and when it came to the second half, we couldn’t keep up.”
Grove said freshman goalkeeper Dakota Snow had a good day, saving some “very good balls.”
The Huskies will be at home Thursday against Philomath, the second of five straight home matches before the Huskies finish their season with four straight games on the road.