Soccer team wins first playoff round

The boys' soccer team battled through regulation play, overtime and a shootout to earn the playoff win over Ontario at home on Saturday, November 7.

Ontario scored a goal in the 18th minute of play, but Sisters responded quickly just two minutes later with a goal from Kevin Marquardt, who was assisted by Sam Quinn on a through ball.

At the half the score was tied 1-1.

Ontario scored 11 minutes into the second half to go up 2-1. The Outlaws didn't quit, but buckled down and worked hard to tie it up with four minutes left in regulation. Dirk Van der Velde scored on an assist from Marquardt.

At the end of regulation the score was tied 2-2 and the game went into overtime. Neither team scored and the game came down to a shootout.

Ontario scored three goals in the shootout but Van der Velde, Freddy Gonzalez, Scott Everson and Scotty Bowen all scored a goal to give Sisters four goals and the win.

Drew Harrison was big in the box all day for the Outlaws and made some incredible saves in the shootout.

"Drew did a great job for us today and he made a save for us in the shootout that I didn't think he'd be able to get to," said Coach Rob Jensen.

Jensen also noted Marquardt for his impressive play.

"Kevin worked hard the whole game and set up two goals for us with beautiful passes," said Jensen.

Scotty Bowen feels the team has stepped up their play, both on defense and offense.

"Our defense is individually making more of an effort, winning 50/50 balls and quickly getting the ball out of the back field. On offense, we're taking a lot more shots and we're getting the ball quickly off our foot and passed to a more open player. We're playing so much better as a team and we're finally winning on the road and we'll need to keep doing that in order to advance further into the playoffs," said Bowen.

"Overall, the guys did a great job. They overcame the playoff jitters that they had at the start of the game and started playing better. They played hard and gave every bit of effort they had, and that's all I can ask for," said Jensen.

Earlier in the week, on Monday, November 2, the Outlaws defeated the Tigers at Junction City in a final score of 4-2.

Sisters scored at the 15-minute mark to take a 1-0 lead. Austin Williams made a right-to-left cross to Scotty Bowen, who punched it in for the goal.

Junction City tied it up 1-1 eight minutes later, when they scored on a penalty kick (PK).

Freddy Gonzalez assisted Sam Quinn on a breakaway in the 32nd minute to give the Outlaws a 2-1 advantage at the half.

Three minutes into the second half, Kevin Marquardt scored on a corner kick by Scott Everson from the left side and Sisters went up 3-1.

"It was a powerful header and a great shot," said Coach Rob Jensen.

Jake Lasken crossed the ball to Bowen five minutes later and Scotty scored from 18 yards out for his second goal of the night, and pushed Sisters to a 4-1 lead.

The Tigers scored their final goal in the 78th minute, time on the clock ran out and Sisters earned the win.

"The guys all played really hard, but the key to the win was pressure in the midfield from Kevin (Marquardt) and Dirk (Van der Velde), who forced Junction City to make mistakes and not have easy passes. And, all of the forwards pressured hard to keep the ball on the attacking half of the field," said Jensen.

Gonzalez said, "We came out stronger and I think we wanted it more. We had lots of chances to score and we shut them out in their shots on goal. It was a good win. We've played them (JC) the last three years for a chance to go on and advance in the playoffs and this year we did it. It was a big deal."

Sisters was set to face LaSalle, the No. 1 seed from the Capital Conference, in the second round of playoffs on Tuesday, November 10.