The Sweet Home High School girls soccer team defeated Crook County 3-2 Saturday on the road.
“It was a pretty old team, actually,” said Coach Ramiro Santana. “They’re all seniors.”
The Cowgirls have a couple of players from each of the lower grades, he said, but it’s an experienced, senior-laden team with size and speed.
Crook County scored the first two goals of the game and led 2-0 at halftime.
Santana noticed that Crook County was playing the same way his team was, he said. Neither team was pressuring the ball. If it was kicked, both teams waited till it hit the ground before they went after it.
“Our girls were not awake yet,” he said, but at halftime, he told them they needed to be more aggressive. “We need to go for it, get the ball first, go get it and shoot. If we can do that, we can pull it out.”
The girls hit the field in the second half, and they got after the ball, he said. They started passing more, and they moved to an offensive formation running four forwards instead of four defenders, something Santana hasn’t tried before.
Sabrina Davis, Haley Kent and Katie Virtue were out front, while Demi Stratman kept the goal.
“We started to get a lot of shots,” Santana said. The Huskies missed a lot, but they got enough shots and started scoring, while Crook County went defensive.
Virtue scored the first goal up the middle, passing the ball to Davis, who passed it back for a shot.
Virtue kicked the ball in from the corner for the second goal, Santana said. Davis got her heal on it and kicked it in backward.
Tied 2-2, the Huskies third goal bounced in when a corner kick bounced off a Crook County player into the net with about two minutes left.
On Thursday, the Huskies lost at home 3-1 against Sisters.
“We played them pretty good,” Santana said. It was a tight game most of the first half, tied 1-1. Courtney Kent scored the goal. Sisters spun a shot into the net near the end of the half to lead 2-1 at halftime.
“We had our chances,” Santana said. “We could’ve scored on them. We could’ve won it. We could’ve tied.”
The Huskies again had a lot of shots, but they kept missing, he said.
On Oct. 2, the Huskies lost 3-0 at Junction City.
“Our girls are playing better and better every time,” Santana said. “We’re learning, and we’re getting better every time. Ever game we keep improving.”