Despite controlling the offensive narrative for most of the first half, the Philomath High girls soccer team found itself mired in a 1-1 halftime tie against visiting North Marion Tuesday afternoon.
The momentum shifted within the first 90 seconds of the second half, however, when the Warriors regained a lead that they would not relinquish. On the play, Kya Bolton had an effective throw-in with the ball finding the feet of teammate Bethany Cannon. Moments later, Bella Nunez buried a shot into the net for a 2-1 lead.
“I don’t quite remember what happened but I heard Lacey (Bacho) telling me to take it,” Nunez, a sophomore, recalled. “So I just leaned over it and took it and prayed for the best and it went in. It was fun and great connections between all of us.”
Bolton, a sophomore, scored in the 65th minute with an assist by senior Maggie King for a 3-1 advantage. North Marion was able to strike in the 72nd minute to get the Huskies back to within a goal of the lead but the Warriors were able to hang on to the final whistle.
“I feel like we have a great offense,” Nunez said. “Jordyn (Hood) and Bethany have some awesome connections and Kya is just a beast taking shots. … It’s been great to keep growing with them and growing our connections together.”
Philomath went up 1-0 in the ninth minute on a Bolton goal with an assist by Nunez. The team had several other opportunities but North Marion kept dodging bullets. In the eighth minute when the game was scoreless, senior Ana Candanoza took a shot from 25 yards that hit the crossbar.
Later in the half after Philomath put the ball in play on a corner kick, senior Ellie Dye nearly scored on a ball that bounced off the keeper’s hands. Hood also had a couple of chances on headers off Bolton corner kicks but missed one wide and another high.
North Marion tied the game in the 38th minute on the first of two goals by senior Paige Comerford.
“I’d say we were a little frantic at first and a little nervous,” Nunez said. “Once we started the second half and started believing that we could beat this team and to keep persevering and playing to our best and using our strengths, then I feel we started doing better.”
North Marion didn’t have a ton of chances in the second half but did threaten to tie the game on a few occasions. Philomath’s defense held up, however, and Warriors junior goalkeeper Makena Sleeman had several saves, including one in the 60th minute when she had to jump high to deflect a shot by junior Victoria Valenzuela.
On the other end, two close-range shots by Bolton went right to the goalkeeper and Cannon just missed in the moments following a corner kick.
North Marion had a final chance in the 77th minute but a shot toward the net went high. From that point on, the Warriors controlled possession to run out the clock.
The victory gave Philomath sole possession of first place in the Oregon West Conference with a 4-0 record. The Warriors (8-1 overall) will play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Newport.
North Marion falls to 3-6 overall, 3-1 in the conference.
Philomath 3, North Marion 2
Tuesday, Oct. 7, at Philomath HS
| Teams (Record) | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Marion (3-5, 3-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Philomath (7-1, 3-0) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
First Half — 1, Philomath, Bolton (Nunez), 9th minute; 2, North Marion, Comerford, 38th minute.
Second Half — 3, Philomath, Nunez (Cannon), 42nd minute; 4, Philomath, Bolton (M. King), 65th minute; 5, North Marion, Comerford (Dunn), 72nd minute.
Junior Varsity (Monday): Philomath 4, Toledo 0. PHS Goals — Harrington, Workman, Mooney (Wilson), Badazadigan (Oster).
Junior Varsity (Tuesday): Philomath 1, Gladstone 1. PHS Goals — Steen (Wilson).
