Playing on Philomath High’s grass soccer pitch, Marist Catholic coach Stefan Schroffner said it’s a true test of his team’s technical skills not only because of the surface but because the Warriors have a quality program.
The Spartans (3-1), ranked No. 1 in the most recent OSAAtoday coaches poll and unbeaten against 4A opponents, broke a 1-1 tie late in the first half and padded their lead early in the second half to post a 3-1 victory.
“We want these hard games because we want to see where we stack up,” PHS coach Mat Phelps said. “We want to see what our deficiencies are as a team so that we can improve going forward.”
Two days earlier, Philomath dropped a 1-0 decision to another formidable opponent in Valley Catholic.
“There’s a lot of things Tuesday that we talked about that we wanted to improve and I felt like tonight we took a big step forward on improving those things,” Phelps said. “This was a much-better team we played against tonight than the team Tuesday and we were there all game long.”
Marist went up 1-0 in the 12th minute when sophomore Libby McLaughlin finished with an assist to sophomore Cruz Donawa. The Warriors had an answer within 4 minutes, however, with freshman Kya Bolton scoring.
Philomath’s Bolton placed a direct kick perfectly into the Marist net as the ball curved up and over the outstretched hands of the Spartans’ goalkeeper. Bolton said she practices such kicks a lot on her own time.
“Our effort, our energy was a lot better tonight,” Phelps said. “We battled for a lot of the balls and didn’t give up on anything and we were more purposeful with our first touch and where we want to go with the ball instead of just randomly kicking the ball.”
Bolton said the team has exceeded expectations with its tough schedule and a starting lineup that’s missing three players because of injuries. Soccer has been a big part of her life over the past decade.
“I like how it’s really competitive and physical,” said Bolton, who is 14. “I like how you have to go fight for the ball and also just the community — it’s really amazing.”
The two teams went back-and-forth for the next 15 minutes before Marist found the net in the 30th minute. McLaughlin again scored, this time with an assist to freshman Lexi Hudson. Then early in the second half, senior Ella Braunger found the net with McLaughlin on the assist.
The Warriors had a few opportunities to get back into the game, including on a breakaway past the goalkeeper that ended with a shot that just missed. Bolton nearly snuck another one in on a shot that hit the crossbar. Senior Aspen Russell set up junior Ellie Dye over the middle in the latter stages of the half but Marist’s keeper stepped up to take possession of the ball.
Philomath (0-2-1) hopes to get back to full strength soon — playing the last two contests without seniors Kateri Pindell and Petra Hernandez, and junior Ana Candanoza.
“We will get some players back,” Phelps said. “We’re just being cautious as we set ourselves up to be ready for league play.”
The Warriors will get a bit of a break from competition with the next match scheduled for Sept. 19 at Junction City. That will be Philomath’s final nonconference game before getting into Oregon West play.
“I feel like we’re going to pick up the pace and get more wins,” Bolton said, “and finish out the season going to state.”
