Girls soccer team earns a shutout

The girls soccer team shut out Elmira 5-0 at home on Monday, October 13, and two days later fell 2-0 to the Tigers at Junction City.

In Monday's match-up with the Falcons, Marin Allen got the Outlaws on the scoreboard eight minutes into the game. Kelly Cole made a great cross to the middle where Allen captured the ball, took it inside the 10-yard mark and shot it into the right side of the goal.'

At the 22-minute mark Amity Calvin scored and pushed the Outlaws to a 2-0 advantage. Calvin had a great shot just inside the 18-yard box that came off a cross from Loryn Cummins. The goal was Calvin's third on the season.

Eight minutes later Allen and Michelle Young were working the ball together and then Allen made a nice pass to Young who finished it to the left of the keeper.

"The keeper didn't have a chance," said Coach Nik Goertzen.

At the half, Sisters held a 3-0 lead.

Thirteen minutes into the second half, Allen drilled a bullet shot up and over the keeper's head for a goal. Calvin recorded the assist and the Outlaws pushed to a 4-0 advantage.

Michelle Young capped Sisters' scoring in the 74th minute. Calvin made a great pass from the middle to Young on the right side, and Young kicked the ball to the left of the keeper for the goal. The game ended in a 5-0 victory for the Outlaws.

The Falcons strategy was to bunch players in the box, so the Outlaws were forced to be more selective with their shots and take most of their shots from the 18-yard mark.

Goertzen was not pleased with his team's play even though they recorded the win.

"We just didn't play well," said Goertzen, "We expected to win but we didn't play with a lot of energy and that didn't sit well with me."

Two days later Sisters suffered a disappointing 2-0 loss to Junction City (JC).

The Tigers scored the first goal of the game two minutes into the second half off a good shot that went up and over the keeper's head. JC scored their final goal with four minutes left on the clock. The goal was scored on a PK due to a controversial hand ball call.

"We had a few problems," said Goertzen. "We didn't think we had to play hard to beat them and they beat us to gaps with passes and shots. We were a step slow all day long and lacked effort and energy and they held the momentum. We just couldn't finish, and our sloppiness from the first half carried over. We had inconsistent passes, we were out of position, there was a lack in communication and we didn't play as a team. We played in clusters of four or five. They (JC) wanted it more than us and they went out and earned it. I'm surprised we didn't respond to their challenge."

Goertzen told The Nugget that he thought the loss to JC would blow the Outlaws' playoff chances but he found out they are still in the hunt. The loss did drop the Outlaws in league standings from second place to third place, half a game ahead of JC.

Sisters will play Creswell on Monday, October 19, and JC will play Cottage Grove (CG). If JC can beat CG, the Outlaws will be in second place and if CG earns the win the Outlaws will be in third place.

"That means our game with Cottage Grove on Wednesday (21st) doesn't carry as much weight," said Goertzen. "Even if we lose we'll still be in third, ahead of Junction City. If CG loses to JC and we beat CG on Wednesday, we'll be the automatic #2 seed."