A battered boys soccer squad, defeated 7-3 at home by Newport on Sept. 13, scratched out a 1-0 victory at Junction City Thursday, Sept. 15, in boys soccer.
It was the first time in the program’s history that the Huskies defeated Junction City, said Coach Eric Stutzer.
“It was huge for the history of the program. To beat them at home in the league opener, that was amazing.”
Senior Ramon Mateo called it “a great confidence booster.”
“I thought it was great – with our incoming freshmen, able to make history with them, along with other fellow classmates.”
The win required iron-man soccer on a grass field away from home, Stutzer said.
“They came out actually pretty good, the best first half start (so far),” he said of his team.
“We were really depleted. We had a massive amount of injuries, and we also had a player on suspension.”
Seven minutes in, Austin Stevens took the ball to Junction City’s goal, Stutzer said. The goalie fumbled it, and Austin kicked it into the net.
The referee ruled that the keeper had control of the ball, nullifying the goal, Stutzer said.
Five minutes later, the Huskies ran the ball downt he right side. Mateo made a good run at the goal and drew a foul, setting up a free kick at the 18.
Almonso Perez kicked it into the goal area, setting Mateo up to score a header.
Ahead 1-0, “it was just a battle of wills from that point on,” Stutzer said. “With no subs, by halftime, they were done. We were playing on sheer determination and willpower.”
Junction City turned up the pressure in the middle of the second half, he said. Noah Dinsfriend came up with several plays to force Junction City into taking poor shots.
“Rawlins (Lupoli) had huge saves right at the end of the game that secured the win,” Stutzer said.
This team can play down players, go on the road and win iron-man style, he said.
The Junction City win came after the Huskies squared off with the top-ranked team in the state, Newport.
Sweet Home fell behind 3-0 on a series of defensive errors, Stutzer said, but stayed in the game on penalty kicks by Perez and Mateo. The Huskies trailed 3-2 at halftime.
Newport scored right after the half, and Stevens answered with a goal of his own, taking advantage of a Newport defensive error. Trailing 4-3, the Huskies were looking for ways to catch Newport when Oscar Hernandez went down with an injury, with about 15 minutes left on the clock.
“It was an emotional swing,” Stutzer said. The injury and a couple of calls changed the complexion of the game.
Newport scored three more times.
“The score really didn’t reflect how well we played the game,” Stutzer said.
He noted that South Albany beat Newport 3-0 Thursday. The Huskies tied South Albany 1-1.
At this point, depth is an issue for the Huskies, with injuries and discipline issues, Stutzer said. A lot of players are still dinged up.
The Huskies are 2-2-1 overall and 1-0 in league. They were scheduled to travel to Sisters on Tuesday, host Sutherlin on Thursday and travel to Cottage Grove on Tuesday next week.