The high school boys soccer team didn’t fare well its first week out, losing 1-0 at East Linn Christian Academy and 5-1 at Estacada.
The team has just about everything it needs in place to get wins, said Coach Ryan Regrutto, so it was frustrating.
The game against East Linn was “the worst game as a coach ever,” he said. “That was a tough game. The kids are doing what I ask them to do, and it’s smart play. We had a lot of chances one on one with the goalkeeper.”
The Huskies outshot East Linn about 15 to five, Regrutto said. And at least 10 times, the Huskies were one on one facing the goalie.
“At this point, it literally is a confidence thing,” Regrutto said. Running at the goalie, they’re shooting early instead of closing.
“Now we’re realizing we’re a good enough team,” Regrutto said. “If we’re in it, it’s not sheer luck.”
East Linn scored its goal about halfway through the second half, he said.The shooter dribbled past defenders into the box to take a shot. Goalie Bryce Roberts came out to close the distance, and the shooter knocked it past him into the back of the net.
“A frustrating end to what we thought would be a good day for us,” Regrutto said. “I literally felt we outplayed that team. We felt we were the better team.”
The Huskies outshot East Linn and had more possession of the ball, he said, but he just couldn’t get his team into the right places at the right time to put the ball through the goal.
Likewise with Estacada, “I feel like that 5-1 is pretty flattering to them,” Regrutto said. “I don’t feel it was a four-goal difference.”
Two scores were on corner kicks and the other was a 40-foot shot, he said. They were momentary lapses on the Huskies’ part. Estacada only shot about eight times, while the Huskies had half a dozen shots.
The Huskies were in the thick of it, Regrutto said, and they had the ball 75 percent of the time. Roberts didn’t have too much to save against other than the five Estacada goals.
Soccer is a game where the score doesn’t always reflect well what happened on the field, he said. One team could dominate and still have a close score to show for it while other teams may play closer and still have a lopsided score.
“You still lose,” he said. “But it’s not the whole story. This is the best we’ve ever looked. We’ve not even come close to this in the past. The kids really were finally at the point we can be competitive.”
Estacada led 2-0 at halftime.
The Huskies scored after Ole Olsen dribbled into the opponent’s box, Regrutto said. Estacada kicked his feet out from under him, and Tony Ramirez scored the penalty kick.
The Huskies will travel to Stayton on Thursday and host Lebanon on Saturday.
“I’m excited,” Regrutto said. “Every game I think we literally are going to have a chance. I’m proud of the way the boys have responded. The kids have been great. I’m certainly proud of them.”