Although Sweet Home girls soccer lost 4-1 to Woodburn on Thursday, Oct. 7, the team fared much better than in its Sept. 14 8-0 “mercy rule” defeat at the hands of the No. 5 Bulldogs.
“It was one of the best games we have ever played, even though we lost,” Head Coach Ramiro Santana said. “We did so much better than our first game that we played against them. The girls played amazing.”
Woodburn’s first goal came in the 19th minute, when Sweet Home’s defense tried to pass the ball between themselves, but the Bulldogs grabbed possession.
“There was not good communication there between our defenders and our goalie,” Santana said.
Woodburn’s second goal, which came in the 38th minute, came off of a “pretty good shot” by senior forward Myranda Marquez, Santana said.
“She’s an incredible player,” he said of Marquez. “She took on a couple of our players and took a shot at goal and scored. She has amazing feet.”
Marquez scored again three minutes into the second half, then the Bulldogs scored again at the 21st minute, this time off of a corner, stretching their lead to 4-0.
But before the final whistle blew, Sweet Home found the back of the net as senior defender Meagan Baham scored on a free kick from outside the box.
Sweet Home (0-6-1, 1-7-1) travels to Philomath at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, then hosts Sisters at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14.
“They’re both pretty good teams,” Santana said. “We’ll see what we can do. Our girls are playing better now.”