Outlaws post win over Sweet Home

The Outlaws young soccer squad has had a rough season, but their diligence and hard work finally paid off when they beat Sweet Home 4-0 on the road on Thursday, October 24, for their first league win of the season.

Sisters’ scrappy sophomore Ricky Huffman scored the first goal of the game in the seventh minute to give the Outlaws a 1-0 lead.

Coach Jeff Husmann said, “Ricky is an incredibly athletic individual, and his ball-handling skills have improved tremendously this season.”

The Outlaws’ defense was on point and kept the Huskies out of Sisters’ end most of the first half. The defense was led by Simon Rhett, Nathaniel Alvarez, Noah Pittman, and Sean Alvarez.

Sisters created many opportunities for themselves when they got their wing players to the end line, but just couldn’t get the score. Finally, Connor Linn ripped a shot into the back of the net in the 25th minute of play, and pushed the Outlaws to a 2-0 advantage, which held to the half.

“Connor has a mellow demeanor off the pitch, but is a beast as a striker, though we had to call on him to play a variety of places due to the team’s attrition,” said Husmann.

In the 48th minute of the second half, Huffman scored his second goal of the night off a beautifully crafted assist from Ethan Eckert.

Husmann had praise for senior and team leader Eckert.

“Ethan truly has been the steady of our team, and will certainly be missed,” said Husmann. “His selfless and tenacious style of play will certainly allow him to play at the collegiate level, which he aspires to do.”

Husmann told The Nugget that their final goal came from an unlikely source in freshman Bela Chladek.

“Though Bela has had limited minutes this season, he positioned himself in the right place at the right time and hit a beautiful arching shot just over the keeper’s head for his first-ever varsity goal.”

Husmann stated that Bela brings a contagious energy to the team, and everyone was stoked for him to get the goal.

Time ran out on the clock and the Outlaws recorded their first league win of the season.

Two days earlier Sisters dropped their game at home against Stayton in a final score of 1-9. The Outlaws only goal came midway through the second half when Huffman chipped the ball over the keeper’s head from approximately 25 yards out.

Husmann stated that Huffman really has a nose for the goal and has been the Outlaws’ leading scorer this year.

The highlight of the match for the Outlaws was the clinic that junior Nathaniel Alvarez put on as keeper. His 32 saves on the night prevented the score from being even more lopsided.

“Nathaniel is a very talented goal-keeper, but we have been using him as our center back most of the season as he is also a very solid field player,” said Husmann. “He is sure-handed, fearless, and knows when to come out of the box. We knew we were going to be on defense most of the match, so it was a great opportunity to see his skills shine in the defeat.”

Husmann was thankful for the coaching help he got this first season as head coach, and noted his two assistants.

“Roger, Nathaniel’s dad, is our goal-keeper coach and has done an outstanding job this season working with all our players. We are lucky to have the quality of coaching from the assistant coaches, Kevin Eckert and Roger Alvarez. They are knowledgeable and share a passion for the beautiful game. We complement each other well. They both have a wealth of experience, and their humble attitude makes it fun to work with them.”