Boys tie North Marion in soccer opener

The Outlaws soccer team in action.

The Sisters boys varsity soccer team began the new fall season by hosting the Huskies of North Marion on Thursday, September 5.

When the final whistle had sounded, the teams had battled to a 3-3 draw.

The Outlaws drew first blood with an unassisted goal by Alan Dale. North Marion came right back to tie it at one apiece.

Lucas Denzer answered with an assist by Jeff Boswell to take a 2-1 lead at the half.

"We played phenomenal for the first fifteen minutes of the game," Coach Mark Keel said. "A couple of calls didn't go our way and the kids got rattled, and we were on our heels after that.

"We made some adjustments at the half with our formation," Keel said. "We went with a more defensive formation. But then North Marion scored two goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half, and we were down 3-2. Morale was low, but we continued to play hard."

Rod Helwig made a break away and kicked a hard shot on goal. The goalie just got his hand on it. The ball dribbled in front of the net and Ford Bauer kicked it in.

"Our intensity level really went up after that," Keel said. "We had an opportunity to win it in the last five seconds off a corner kick. An open kick missed and the whistle blew. We had chances to put it away all through the game, and we didn't."

The coach was pleased with the team's performance and identified the areas where the boys need improvement.

"I was pleased with the way our mid-fielders were passing to our forwards to create scoring opportunities," Keel said. "We had 23 shots on goal (compared to 20 for North Marion.)

"We played well as a team on occasion, but we need more consistency. We're not playing with a sense of urgency yet. On defense, we had some communication lapses and breakdowns, which we will work on."

In a week of non-league action, the Outlaws were to host Grant Union on Tuesday, September 10.