Scott Swanson
Of The New Era
Last year was a rough go for the Sweet Home girls soccer team.
The team started with 14 players. It finished with 11 for its final six games. The Huskies played several matches with nine players and one with eight after a series of injuries and departures.
The good news is that was then and this is now. The future looks brighter for Sweet Home, though it will take time for the Huskies to develop.
That was clear Friday as Sweet Home participated in a jamboree warm-up at East Linn Christian School. Though they didn’t score any goals in three games, Coach Ramiro Santana was pleased with many things he saw, he said.
Santana has 20 players on the field, including a last-minute addition from Japan who joined the team last Wednesday, just hours after stepping off the plane. It’s a very young team, with 12 freshmen and sophomores, but he’s expecting improvement in the team’s morale and fortunes this year.
“They’re all pretty good athletes, pretty smart ladies,” Santana said. “They learn quick.”
Back from last year’s team (which finished with a 3.83 GPA, one of the top 10 in the state) are 13 players.
Back from last year are eight players: senior Larissa Bjornsen; juniors Leanna Blankenship and Kathy Wilson; and sophomores Brianna Wirth, Kelsi Walker, Rochelle Zamacona, Jessica Snow and Alex Hawk.
They are joined by seniors Michelle Buhn and Kayla Kingsberry, junior Faith Helfrich, sophomores Julie Bosso and Sarah Nelson, and freshmen Shelby Gillespie, Kaitlin Keenon, Jazmine Morris, Sarah Pickett and Erin Rose. The other newcomer is Yumi Asai, the Japanese exchange student who said she has played soccer in Japan.
“This year is one of the first that we’ve had this many players,” Santana said.
He doesn’t plan to field a junior varsity team this year, “but the way it’s coming, we’ll do that for next year,” he added, noting that the junior high school program is part of the reason the high school numbers are starting to swell.
“With the talent coming up, everyone will play that way too,” he said of his plans for a junior varsity.
Right now, Santana said, the team is balanced as far as ability.
“If I pull a player out, the team won’t show any weakness,” he said. “The ones that come out, the one who goes in is pretty much the same. I think I can keep rotating the girls.”
This is Santana’s first experience coaching a high school team, though he’s coached Boys and Girls Club soccer for years and for the past two years coached the junior high boys team.
“I had the boys for so many years, it’s a challenge for me with this new group,” he said.
The team will have a steep learning curve, he said, as he teaches them his approach to soccer, which involves aggressive offense.
“I like to move them up on the field,” he said. “They need to not sit back. They need to move up and keep the ball up there. I try to coach them to play all the field; defenders need to know every position on the field.
At the East Linn Jamboree, which essentially was three 40-minute scrimmages, the last two back-to-back for the Huskies, they lost 2-0 to South Albany, a 5A school, then dropped a 3-0 decision to Lebanon before taking on Oregon Episcopal School, which dominated South Albany earlier, 8-0. The Huskies, who were clearly fatigued by that point, gave up seven goals, including a couple from 20 and 30 yards out.
“They were all worn out,” Santana said of his team. “We actually played very good in the first game. It was just a couple of mistakes on corner kicks.”
The season will be a work in progress, he said, adding that the veterans back from last year will have to learn to have fun and play as a unit with the newcomers.
“It’s going to be a lost year until they bond,” he said. “They are going to struggle until they get their heads together. They have to communicate more and play as a team.
“It’s a big change for some of them. They say they feel a little out of place. But they’re coming.”
The Huskies will not play a typical Val-Co League schedule, though they will meet Central and Philomath. Their opponents include several Christian schools and some Capital League teams.
They open their season at 4 p.m. today, Sept. 5, against Stayton at home.
Santana has high expectations.
“I think it will be probably one of best years ever for the girls this year,” he said.
“But there’s more to come. I really believe in these girls.”