With the Warriors leading 6-0 in the 29th minute, Philomath High soccer standout Kya Bolton placed the ball on the ground to line up a corner kick.
The Thursday afternoon game against Sweet Home was all but over with the only question being not if, but when Philomath would end it on the eight-goal mercy rule. Bolton, who had already scored three goals, connected with intentions of setting up a teammate. Instead, the ball found the net.
Gallery: PHS girls soccer vs. Sweet Home (Sept. 25, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High School’s 9-0 girls soccer win over Sweet Home on Thursday.
“It was a mishit — she’s trying to set her teammates up but it still goes in,” Warriors girls soccer coach Mat Phelps said. “It’s a dangerous ball and that’s good.”
Bolton said she practices corner kicks almost every day after practice. She had scored several that way during drills but never in an actual game.
“It was a complete accident,” said Bolton, who has 13 goals this season. “He (Phelps) was telling me to like pass it around and try to get assists from that but that was a complete accident.”
Philomath went on to a 9-0 victory to open Oregon West Conference play with a decisive victory.
“I think we’ve got the ability to score a lot of goals with just a dynamic attack,” Phelps said. “We can shoot from the outside and be effective or we can kind of build up and we can be dangerous on corner kicks. So it’s really fun just to see the girls really come into their own offensively.”
Bolton scored three goals within the game’s first eight minutes. Just 1:15 into the contest, she hit a shot that bounced straight down off the crossbar and went off the goalkeeper and into the net. In the fourth minute, she found the corner from about 12 yards. And in the eighth minute, Bolton’s shot attempt went through the goalkeeper’s hand into the back of the net.
Junior Jordyn Hood and sophomore Bella Nunez were credited with assists on the first and third goals.
Bolton knows tougher opponents lie ahead, but the sophomore expressed optimism about the team’s trajectory.
“Since we’ve been doing pretty well — we know there will be some competition but we’ve grown together as a team,” she said. “We’re starting to gain confidence as a team as well and we’re encouraging each other, having good attitudes and just growing for the team.”
PHS sophomore Bethany Cannon scored the game’s fourth goal in the 20th minute when she buried a close-range shot from an angle. Senior Brielle Hagen assisted on the play. A couple of minutes later, Hagen scored herself unassisted after taking possession off a Sweet Home goalkeeper kick.
In the 25th minute, sophomore Sophie Ellis found the net on a shot from about 35 yards to give the Warriors a 6-0 lead.
In a rout against an opponent that offered little resistance, the question that comes to mind is what the players get out of it.
“We learn to pass around more instead of just shooting every single time,” Bolton said. “We can improve our combination play and just get more out of it. It’s like another practice.”
After Bolton’s corner kick goal, the Warriors scored an eighth in the 36th minute when senior Ellie Dye finished. The team then scored a ninth time on senior Lacey Bacho’s goal on a rebound that she picked up off the post.
Phelps admitted that it would’ve been nice to play more than 40 minutes.
“Everybody got good playing time today but you’d still love to get more playing time, right?” he said. “That’s kind of the difficulty of that (mercy) rule.”
Philomath (5-1 overall, 1-0) should get a tougher test Tuesday with a trip to Stayton. Despite the nice start, the Warriors know there is room for improvement.
“I think composure on the ball and not always just clearing it out defensively but getting our head up, settling, finding feet and just keeping possession a little bit better,” Phelps said when asked about areas to clean up. “But we’re doing really well and I’m really proud of the girls how they’ve stepped up.”
Bolton knows there will be tougher days ahead.
“I think that we realize that it really matters now and it’s time to start focusing more in practice and learning and improving more of our skills and just getting better,” Bolton said.
Philomath 9, Sweet Home 0
Thursday, Sept. 25, at Philomath HS
| Teams (Record) | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sweet Home (1-5, 0-1) | 0 | – | 0 |
| Philomath (5-1, 1-0) | 9 | – | 9 |
Note: The game was declared over at halftime on the eight-goal mercy rule.
First Half — 1, Philomath, Bolton (Hood), 2nd minute; 2, Philomath, Bolton, 4th minute; 3, Philomath, Bolton (Nunez), 8th minute; 4, Cannon (Hagen), 20th minute; 5, Hagen, 22nd minute; 6, Ellis, 26th minute; 7, Bolton (CK), 30th minute; 8, Dye, 36th minute; 9, Bacho, 37th minute.
Corner Kicks: Sweet Home 0, Philomath 3. Saves: Junction City 4 (Birkett), Philomath 0 (Sleeman).
Junior Varsity (Monday): Corvallis (JV 2) 4, Philomath 2. PHS Goals—Mooney, Allen (Robertson).
Junior Varsity (Thursday): Philomath 3, Sweet Home 1. PHS Goals—Wilson (Mooney), Wilson (Allen), Wilson.
