The Philomath High School boys soccer team remained unbeaten Tuesday with a 3-2 victory on the road over Newport. The Warriors improve to 9-0 on the season, maintain their No. 1 OSAA ranking and are the lone 4A school with a perfect record.
The Warriors didn’t play their best soccer in this one, coach Dave Ellis said, but they got the job done.
“At the end of the day, I think there’s still a little bit of a hangover from the Stayton game,” Ellis said, referring to Philomath’s 1-0 win over the defending state champion Eagles on Sept. 30. “Maybe not necessarily individually, but collectively, I think a couple of times we thought the game was over and it wasn’t and we made it a lot harder on ourselves than it had to be.”
Philomath took a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute behind Mateo Candanoza’s work.
“He just dribbled through like four players, tackled through a couple of them, found his spot and tucked the ball away,” Ellis said. Mark Grimmer was credited with an assist.
Newport tied the score, 1-1, about 10 minutes later but the Warriors finished half strong with goals in the 28th and 35th minutes.
On the team’s second goal of the game, Chase Ringwald sent the ball into play on a corner kick and Blaise Pindell attempted a shot. The ball bounced back either off a Newport player or the post and Pindell picked it up and buried it at close range.
The Warriors made it 3-1 with about five minutes remaining in the half. Dylan Bell sent the ball toward the goal on a free kick but it sailed a bit high and hit the crossbar. The ball went straight down and rattled around, as Ellis described, and Mark Grimmer was in position to put it away from a yard out.
In the second half, Newport pulled to within 3-2 with about 15 minutes remaining. On the play, Newport played a ball straight up the middle and attempted a shot that PHS goalkeeper Teddy Benbow saved. But the Cubs were able to pick up the ball while Benbow was recovering for the goal.
Ellis said Philomath had several scoring opportunities that didn’t finish.
“We just did not play well … we never got comfortable,” he said.
The two goals by Newport (4-4-1 overall, 1-3-1 Oregon West) is noteworthy since it equals the number of goals that Philomath had allowed the entire season heading into the game. In the Warriors’ first eight games, only Gladstone and Cascade had scored against the PHS defense with the other six games being shutouts.
Philomath (9-0 overall, 5-0) is scheduled to play at 4 p.m. Thursday on the home field against Cascade.
Philomath 3, Newport 2
Tuesday, Oct. 5, at Newport HS
| TEAMS (RECORDS) | 1H | 2H | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philomath (9-0, 5-0) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Newport (4-4-1, 1-3-1) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| SCORING SUMMARY |
|---|
| First Half: 1, Philomath, Mateo Candanoza (Mark Grimmer), 8th minute; 2, Newport, 18th minute; 3, Philomath, Blaise Pindell, 28th minute; 4, Philomath, Grimmer, 35th minute. Second Half: 5, Newport, 65th minute. |
Conference Standings
(As of Oct. 5)
Oregon West Conf Pct. All Pct. PF PA Philomath
Stayton
Sisters
Newport
Cascade
Sweet Home5-0
4-1
2-2-1
1-3-1
1-3
0-41.000
.800
.500
.300
.250
.0009-0
8-1
5-2-1
4-4-1
3-4
2-61.000
.889
.688
.500
.429
.25036
36
29
24
16
104
5
13
16
35
33
Tuesday, Oct. 5
Philomath 3, Newport 2
Cascade at Sweet Home, canceled
Thursday, Oct. 7
Cascade at Philomath, 4 p.m.
Newport at Stayton, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 9
Riverside at Sisters, 2 p.m.
JUNIOR VARSITY
Newport 5, Philomath 1
Tuesday, Oct. 5, at Newport HS
| TEAM NOTES |
|---|
| The JV team’s record goes to 3-3-1 on the season. … Austin Hunsaker scored Philomath’s lone goal. … Newport scored twice on PHS own-goals. … Philomath is scheduled to play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at home against East Linn Christian. |
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