Girls soccer squad shows strength

The girls soccer team had a great showing at the jamboree held at Philomath on Friday, August 29. The Lady Outlaws tied Philomath 0-0 in their first game, defeated Cascade 4-1 in the second game and rounded off the day with a 2-0 victory over Junction City.

Sisters' game against Philomath was a total defensive battle, especially in the first half. The Outlaws came out a little sloppy on offense and didn't have many opportunities at shots on goal.

Coach Nik Goertzen told The Nugget he felt his team was sluggish after the long bus ride.

In the second half of the contest the momentum shifted in the Outlaws favor and Sisters out-shot Philomath 12-5. However, the Lady Outlaws were not able to finish on any of those shots.

"Kiana (Jiminez) did a great job on defense. She was all over the place, being disruptive and tough," Goertzen said. "She played hard-nose defense and shut their faster players down.

Sisters defeated Cascade 4-1 in the following game. Mindy Marr scored for the Outlaws six minutes in, from outside the 18-yard box. The shot was a hard punch that went straight in from the center.

Marin Allen scored a rebound goal off the post midway through the first half to push Sisters to a 2-0 advantage. Cascade answered with a goal to make the score 2-1. Just before the half, Allen scored on another rebound goal off the keeper and Sisters entered the half up by two.

Michelle Young capped Sisters scoring with a power shot to the right of the keeper with five seconds left in the game to seal the Outlaw win.

"We played down to their level in the second half," said Goertzen. "We had good runs but couldn't finish."

In Sisters final game of the day they faced league nemesis, Junction City, who knocked them out of the playoffs last year. The Outlaws played well and shut out the Tigers 2-0.

Allen scored Sisters' first goal six minutes into the contest. Zoey McAllister scored from 20 yards out with five minutes left in the first half to push Sisters to a 2-0 lead. Neither team scored in the second half.

Goertzen told The Nugget the Outlaws dominated play from start to finish.

The coach noted freshmen forward Michelle Young and sophomore Marin Allen as stand-out players for the day and also had compliments for Hattie Tehan, Mindy Marr and Kiana Jiminez who stood out above and beyond other players.

Freshmen keeper, Sara Small, also played well, added Goertzen.

"She's very athletic and anticipates the ball. She totally earned the trust of her teammates in the first five minutes of the Philomath game. She was in control and knew what she was doing," he said. "The girls trusted her to command the back."

Overall, Goertzen was very pleased with his team's performance.

"I was pleased and a little surprised at how well we did," he said.

The Outlaws will travel to Cascade on Thursday, September 4, for a non-league game.