Although the opponent scored a couple of late goals, the Philomath High School girls soccer team closed out a successful regular season Tuesday with a 3-2 victory over visiting Newport.
The Warriors won the Oregon West Conference title outright with the victory, finishing at 9-0-1 in league play.
Gallery: PHS girls soccer vs. Newport (Oct. 28, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 3-2 girls soccer victory over Newport on Senior Day on Tuesday.
“We’re really excited because it was our original first goal of the season,” PHS senior Lacey Bacho said, a reference to the team’s goal of winning the conference. “Now we’re setting new goals for ourselves and we’re hoping to meet those.”
Coach Mat Phelps said after the team had gone through the nonconference portion of the schedule, players wanted to update some of their goals. One of them was to not only win the league, but to go through undefeated.
“So they met their goal,” the coach said. “Just a lot of credit for them to recognize what they wanted to do and then working hard for it.”
The next hurdle to clear arrives Nov. 4 with the first round of the Class 4A playoffs. Philomath will host a match against an opponent to be determined.
Bacho said the team’s mindset will need to revolve around being ready and believing that they can win.
“We can win, we can be as good as we want to be as long as we push ourselves and keep each other accountable,” she said.
Another one of the team’s seniors, Logan Cook, sees fun times ahead.
“We’re pretty excited for the playoffs and I think we’re going to bring a lot of intensity,” Cook said. “Everyone wants it really bad this year.”
As for the coach, he said the team will need to further develop its ability to close out opponents.
“The mindset needs to be just putting people away and not letting teams hang around,” Phelps said about the upcoming playoffs. “Just being ruthless, being cutthroat, getting in there and scoring every single opportunity we have.”
Philomath (13-1-1 overall, 9-0-1 Oregon West) broke through in the 15th minute when sophomore Bella Nunez placed a shot in the upper part of the net on a shot from about 25 yards out. Senior Ellie Dye was credited with an assist.
In the 26th minute, sophomore Kya Bolton scored to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead. On the play, Newport’s goalkeeper left the net and Bolton picked up the ball to finish despite pressure from Cubs sophomore Grace Dougherty. PHS sophomore Bethany Cannon picked up an assist.
Five minutes later, Bolton scored again when she snuck a shot into the corner of the net. Junior Angelica Morales-Marquez sent the ball down to Bolton, who was positioned in the right side of the box. Newport senior Yolanda Ramirez briefly took possession before Bolton reclaimed the ball and got off the shot.
Bacho and Cook had similar perspectives on the key to victory.
“Communication, keeping the energy together and being able to hold each other accountable,” Bacho said. “Keeping our heads up and continuing to play.”
Cook said the team excelled with its ball movement out on the pitch. The majority of the game was played on Newport’s side of the field.
“A lot of communication and a lot of movement off the ball, like passing and getting open for each other,” Cook said. “I think we just moved it around a lot really well and it gave us a lot of opportunities.”
Newport made things interesting late with two goals in the game’s final 10 minutes.
“Even though it’s 3-0, you don’t fully put them away and anything can happen,” Phelps said. “We just had a bad decision and gave up a penalty kick and then all of a sudden they’re in the game.”
In the 70th minute, Philomath committed a penalty on a Newport player in the box to set up the PK. Cubs senior Eva Sophia Peterson made the shot to get her team on the scoreboard. Later, as the game’s final seconds ticked away, senior Maria De Jesus Mendoza scored with an assist by freshman Ollie Newell.
“Part of it was we were moving players around on Senior Night and trying to play people in different positions and have a little bit of fun,” Phelps said. “So I take responsibility for that a little bit.”
Philomath actually dominated possession for most of the second half but the Cubs took advantage of their limited opportunities.
“We can always improve as a team with energy and emotion,” Bacho said. “Today, we definitely got into a couple of lulls as we sometimes do but we’re looking forward to being better and having more energy.”
The team played without senior Ana Candanoza, an exceptional athlete who impacts the game in several ways.
“It’s sad that she’s not playing right now, especially on Senior Night,” Cook said. “But I think we were able to really pull ourselves together — it just took some adjustments but I think we were able to fill the gaps.”
Phelps said he expects that Candanoza will return for the playoffs.
The Warriors honored nine seniors before the game. In addition to Bacho, Candanoza, Cook and Dye, others included Brielle Hagen, Lucy King, Maggie King, Jessica McLennan and Abby Phelps.
“All nine have been together since freshman year,” said Phelps, whose own daughter is among them. “They’re a good family — they love each other and they support each other and they’ve really helped set our culture here. We appreciate them.”
A touching symbolic move for Philomath’s two injured seniors occurred in the game’s opening seconds. Candanoza and McLennan were in the starting lineup and both coaches agreed to kick the ball out of bounds after a few seconds so Philomath could send in substitutions. But the two PHS players are able to forever say that they started on Senior Day.
Philomath 3, Newport 2
Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Philomath HS
| Teams (Record) | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newport (7-5-2, 4-4-2) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Philomath (13-1-1, 9-0-1) | 3 | 0 | 3 |
First Half — 1, Philomath, Nunez (Dye), 15th minute; 2, Philomath, Bolton (Cannon), 26th minute; 3, Philomath, Bolton, 31st minute.
Second Half — 4, Newport, Peterson (PK), 70th minute; 5, Newport, Mendoza (Newell), 80th minute.
Junior Varsity: Philomath 6, Newport 0. PHS Goals — Wilson (Harrington), Allen (R. Oster), Badazadigan, Mooney (Wilson), Phelps, Mooney (Steen).
