Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home’s boys soccer team came closer to their goal, literally, last year when the Huskies just missed the playoffs.
When Sweet Home opens Wednesday, Sept. 2, on the road at Creswell, the Huskies will be coming off what was their strongest year ever, statistically speaking. Observers say there’s every reason to believe the boys will be even better this year. More than any other year in recent memory, they are loaded.
Coach Eric Stutzer hopes that will be reflected in Sweet Home’s win-loss record.
“Talent-wise, I think this is the best we’ve ever had,” said Stutzer, who has been involved in high school soccer since the program started about 19 years ago. “We have real depth. We have a lot and have had a lot of pockets of players and talent.”
The program has numbers out this year, and it will field full junior varsity and varsity teams with a deep enough roster to sub and rest players.
The key this year is to play as a team instead of many talented individuals and to overcome the burden of losing records – the mental game, Stutzer said.
The team lost seniors Brenner Roberts, Ty Schilling and Tristan Stockman last year.
At the center of this year’s lineup is Nick Rodgers, who returns with a first-team all-league selection.
“He’s a solid player,” Stutzer said. “He can play any position on the field.”
Junior Alonso Perez was named second-team all-league last year, Stutzer said. He’s put on some size and speed, which will help him at forward.
Junior Ramon Fry is another utility player who, Stutzer said, will likely spend a lot of time at forward with his ability to create offense.
Fry has a good head for soccer, the coach said. He came on last year as a surprise when he stepped up from JV to varsity. He ended up on defense a lot, but the team needs him on offense.
Senior Egan Shamek will round out the team’s offense in a forward position, Stutzer said. As long as he stays healthy and plays more than half of the games, he can be expected to create offensive opportunities for Sweet Home. He earned honorable mention all-league last year playing in just half of the games and scoring seven goals in those six games.
In back will be seniors TJ Baham, Matt Davis and Tadyn Bentley.
The big question this year is what the Huskies will do at keeper. Nik Dishaw is probably the most experienced. Sophomores Rawlins and Rowland Lupoli are possible candidates when he isn’t available, which will be the case early on. Stutzer pulled them up to varsity three games into the schedule last year. Both are talented and can play any position.
Dishaw and his brother Patric, also a senior, came out late, so they’re starting on the JV, Stutzer said. With the large number of players, “you have to earn your spot this year. We fully expect to see them on the varsity roster at some point.”
Senior Quinn Dinsfriend will be solid this year too, Stutzer said.
Other returning varsity players include junior Tristan Graham and senior Malachi Christman. Junior Oscar Hernandez joins the varsity.
The junior varsity includes Craig Hansen, freshmen Bradley Wolthuis, Levi Hernandez, Noah Dinsfriend, and Zerin Owen; juniors Gerad Romero, Braden Greene and Daniel Batchelor; juniors Jacob Erickson, Tyler Becker and Wesley Parker; and the Dishaws.
“We have a dozen guys that can play any position on the field and be good at it,” he said.
The league “is a big question mark this year,” he said. Three programs – Sisters, Cottage Grove and Elmira – graduated huge numbers of seniors, and Sweet Home’s junior varsity was competitive with theirs.
Sisters is always strong, Stutzer said. “Their depth is unbelievable.”
The Outlaws program is massive, and the community has a soccer culture that makes Sisters a regular favorite to win the state championship.
The team regularly plays 5A Summit High School, which is usually a top team in state playoffs.
Cottage Grove is another program that comes out of a strong soccer culture, Stutzer said. The question is how Sweet Home will stack up with “a seasoned team with a soccer culture behind it.”
Elmira is more of a wild card after graduating a large group of seniors, he said.
Junction City is a young team, but the younger players looked good last year, he said.
“We’re in one of the toughest leagues in the state,” he said.
The Huskies held a 1-9 record in league last year and won two games overall.
“I think we have the potential to see some playoffs,” Stutzer said. The big challenge is pulling together as a team and getting past any mental blocks toward winning.
The team is going to focus on offense this year, Stutzer said. With Fry, Perez and Shamek, the Huskies can do that with their speed, stamina and creativity in scoring.
Stutzer said his team is looking forward to playing on the new artificial turf at Husky Field.
“It’s going to reflect positively on our program,” he said, and that’s thanks to huge efforts from football Coach Dustin Nichol and the community. “What a model of unity for the school, for the community and for the programs.”