A very young Sweet Home girls soccer team put up a gallant effort against Santiam Christian last Thursday, but put themselves out of contention when they inadvertently kicked the ball into their own net on a defensive clearout. They lost 3-1 in their first game of the year.
Like last year, the Huskies had a chance to win right up to the end. In the first half, Sweet Home’s defense, led by Anne Helfrich, kept Santiam at bay until late in the half when the superior speed of the Eagles allowed them to get past the defense twice. Despite being down 2-0 at halftime, Coach Eric Markell thought they played well.
And the girls fought back. To open the scoring in the second half, Stefani Crocker used good footwork to beat the defense and dished it to Sarah Winslow, who scored from about 14 feet away. But then there was a bit of a letdown.
“We had a 20 to 25 minute period where we fell apart,” said Markell. That’s when they scored on themselves. With one defender back, Santiam Christian shot a ball across the front of the goal that was not going to go in, but the defender mishit it on the clearout. But mostly it was the superior ball control of the Eagles that the Huskies could not duplicate.
“They passed the ball better than we did, keeping it in the the triangle,” said Markell. “Things that we worked on but just didn’t do in the game.”
But they still attempted a comeback in the ten minutes. Crocker had another goal that she banged into the net from a 45 degree angle 12 yards out, but it was disallowed on a close offsides call. The forwards often worked well together to get around the defense, but they just couldn’t score. For the game, however, the Huskies were outshot 15-8, with goalie Rachel Gaskey making some good saves.
“I was impressed for a first game since some of them had never played before,” said Markell.
“We have some things to work on. We are still getting the kinks worked out.”
One of those things was getting in better shape.
“The girls complained earlier in the season that I was running them too hard,” said Markell. “I think they understand now why we need to run.”
The girls faced Hidden Valley in a home contest yesterday and don’t play again until next Wednesday when they take their game on the road to Elmira.