Boys soccer wraps up week with win

The Outlaws were firing on all cylinders in their 8-0 shutout at home over Sweet Home on Thursday, October 14. The win was a big confidence boost after their 0-5 loss at Stayton two days earlier.

In Thursday’s match, Sisters controlled possession of the ball from the opening whistle. The Outlaws started their scoring spree at the eight-minute mark when Tate Kaczmarek received a beautiful through pass from Ricky Huffman and scored Sisters’ first goal of the

contest.

Sisters controlled possession for the next 25 minutes, but just couldn’t finish any of their opportunities. Finally, in the 35th minute, midfielder and playmaker Vince Christian was fouled in the box, which resulted in a penalty kick. Christian struck a bending ball over their defensive wall into the upper corner for the score.

Just a few minutes later, attacking midfielder Aidan Eckert played a brilliant pass to Kaczmarek who scored and put the Outlaws on top 3-0.

Coach Jeff Husmann said, “Aidan really is an unheralded player. Though he does not score a lot of goals, he is such a creative player, and knows when to take players on and when to lay the ball off. He is such an asset to this team.”

Just before the half, Kaczmarek scored his third goal for a hat trick, with Will Fogarty there with the assist. Fogarty, who had missed a couple of weeks of play, was able to step in from the bench and make an immediate impact.

At the half, the Outlaws held the Huskies scoreless at 4-0.

Ten minutes into the second half, Eckert provided an in-swinging corner kick, which Kaczmarek finished with a solid header into the net. One minute later the same duo combined from a corner kick to make it a 6-0 game.

The lead allowed Coach Husmann to experiment with people in different positions. Senior Josh Schiller came in as striker in his first varsity minutes of the year, and Husmann noted it was nice to see all the excitement and support his fellow players gave him.

In the 56th minute, Eckert again provided the assist, this time to Gavin Christian for Sisters’ seventh goal.

“Gavin works incredibly hard and continues to show his maturity in his support of younger players,” said Husmann.”

The eighth and final goal came when Eckert made a solo mission to place the ball into the back of the net.

Husmann said, “Though we won handily, their goalkeeper truly is among the best in our league. He reads the play very well and is very athletic.”

Two days earlier the Outlaws lost 0-5 at home against a tough Stayton squad.

Sisters has noted all season long that their team is successful when they control the midfield, and against the Eagles they tried to do just that. They played a more compact formation in the midfield, and in the first eight minutes of the game they found their rhythm, and played in sync with one another.

At the 10 minute mark that changed, and Stayton scored their first goal of the contest. Sisters played tentative and the Eagles made them pay as they rattled off three more goals within the next eight minutes. With just 25 minutes off the clock, the Outlaws found themselves down 0-4.

Coach Jeff Husmann said, “You could read the dejected and bewildered look on the players faces. We know we can be more competitive than we’d shown, and yet there we were, looking for answers with a whole lot of soccer to play.”

Stayton added one more goal, and at the half Sisters trailed 0-5.

The Outlaws vowed to be more competitive in the second half. They did just that, and only allowed the Eagles one goal.

Stayton played a very physical game, and was very good at changing the point of attack with big crossing passes, which kept Sisters’ outside backs very busy.

Husmann told The Nugget that the Outlaws’ goal was to score at least one goal in the final half, but unfortunately they slid back into the habit of trying to score off a long ball, rather than working the ball through the

midfield.

“Their defense is good in the air and seemed to stymy this hopeful passing,” said Husmann. “We did play Austin Dean in a more offensive position, and he played a very aggressive game and was motivated to get a goal. He and Ricky Huffman feed well off of each other, and yet we still were unable to produce a goal.”

“Our last two games have been tough,” added Husmann. “However, I am confident we will get back on track for the remainder of the season.”

Sisters was scheduled to play at Newport on Tuesday, October 19. The Outlaws will celebrate senior night when they host Philomath on Thursday, two days later. Their final league game of the season will be Tuesday, October 26 at

Cascade.