Boys soccer kicks off season

The boys varsity soccer team is ready to roll...

The 2002 Sisters boys soccer team is ready to take its play to a higher level.

It's a new team, a new season, and a new coach.

Mark Keel coached last year's undefeated Junior Varsity squad, and he is upbeat about the prospects for this year.

"Varsity soccer had a rough time of it last year," he said. "They started great at the jamboree, and won a couple of games early, but after that it was difficult. But the JV team went 14-0-1, and we're looking to build on that."

Players to watch include junior middlefielder/striker Rodney Helwig and Alan Dale, a junior middlefielder/defender.

Lucas Denzer, who returns to soccer after a two year absence, "is a great athlete, offering speed and size at forward," according to Coach Keel.

"Defensively, Owen Moore at sweeper has a lot of speed, experience, and intensity," the coach said.

The boys got their first taste of action on Thursday, August 29 at the Philomath Jamboree.

"We went 1-1-1 for the day," he said. "We started off against Philomath, who, the boys tell me, was the state champion last year. We started off with the jitters and got down 3-0.

"It was ugly, but then we settled down and dominated them. We scored two goals to pull within 3-2."

The next contest was a dead heat.

"Next, we tied Gladstone 2-2, which was a great game," Keel said. "We had good passing, good ball handling, and made some great cross-over passes.

"We then beat Newport 2-1. We hadn't defeated them in two years, but our defense came together and made some nice stops," Keel said.