Facing a team that beat them 6-1 and 5-0 last year, the Huskies were feeling pretty good with the score tied 0-0 with just minutes left against Sisters at home in boys soccer on Thursday.
They were still feeling good about the game after last year’s state champion finally started scoring with just eight minutes left – even more so than winning against a team like Pleasant Hill recently.
“It really came down to composure at the end,” said Coach Eric Stutzer said. “You have a state champion 0-0 at eight minutes in the game.”
They were tired, and Sisters’ first goal took a toll on Husky composure, he said.
The Huskies ran a couple of strong plays at a goal in response, but instead the Outlaws knocked in two more goals in the last couple minutes of the game for the win.
“We really need to work on winning the ball in the middle of the field,” Stutzer said. The Huskies played great ball Thursday, with solid defense and a good offensive push, but he thinks that if the Huskies had managed to net the first ball, the Huskies would have won the momentum and the game.
Stutzer ran a defense-heavy game plan with the ball centered in the midfield most of the game. After the Outlaws scored, he pushed his players forward in an attempt to tie the game.
Sisters played patiently all game long, Stutzer said. The Outlaws are used to situations like this where the Huskies aren’t so much.
“I think that was a great experience for the kids,” Stutzer said, especially finding out they could play a state champion to a 0-0 tie for most of a game.
The Huskies have been pummeled by Sisters for several years, Stutzer said. “In their minds, they took it away as a win.”
And he’s hoping that has an impact as they face Sutherlin then Cottage Grove this week.
“I think they felt confident,” Stutzer said. “They showed serious improvement. They weren’t just a pushover team any more.”
That was following a disaster against Newport, with the Huskies losing 7-0 on the road on Sept. 16.
If the Huskies played the way they did against Sisters, they would have handed Newport a serious loss, Stutzer said. “I was very, very happy with the Sisters game.”
He was very disappointed in the Newport loss, Stutzer said. It was like two different teams on a switch.
Late in the game, Egan Shamek had a one-on-one with the Sisters keeper, but it went wide, Stutzer said. He counted about 10 good shots on goal from the Huskies and about 15 for the Outlaws.
Huskies keeper Patric Dishaw had about eight good saves along with numerous stops.
And after Sisters’ first score, “I thought the game was still winnable,” Stutzer said.