Despite losing a lethal 1-2 scoring punch from last season, the Philomath High School girls soccer team expects to contend for an Oregon West Conference title while remaining relevant in the Class 4A playoff picture.
Of course, nothing comes easy in the sport and plenty of work remains. But coach Mat Phelps sees possibilities with a senior-heavy roster and a high degree of on-field experience.
“We’ve got a lot of returning players so they have that experience and have really been able to help the newcomers,” Phelps said while commending the hard work that he saw out of his players through the first two weeks of practice. “And I think we’re excited for it. It’s good to start off the season with good competition.”
Philomath lost its two highest-scoring players from last season to graduation in Kamilla Grimmer (32 goals, 19 assists) and Bailey Bell (16 goals, 22 assists). But seasoned veterans return in all other facets of the game.
“From keeper up is pretty familiar and we’re just kind of finding those last two pieces to fit in — who’s going to score the bulk of the goals and who’s going to kind of facilitate (the offense),” Phelps said after the team played two jamboree games Thursday. “It’ll be more balanced this year. It’s going to be a bunch of people stepping into those roles.”
A pair of all-state first-team selections return for the Warriors in senior goalkeeper Heidi Bacho and senior defender Melea Lattin. Bacho and Lattin anchored a very stingy defense that allowed less than one goal per game in 2023 with seven shutouts.
“It’s pretty fun to have that back and she’s a great communicator and just solid in the back,” Phelps said about Bacho. “Melea in front of her … we feel really good there. They just provide consistency game in and game out. Melea is always in the right place and always covering for her teammates and does just a great job.”
Also returning in the back for the Warriors are seniors Aspen Russell and Kateri Pindell.
“Aggressive, solid defenders that very rarely get beat,” Phelps said.
At midfielder, senior Natalie Dunn returns as another key piece.
“She’s an anchor as well, a spine of the team,” Phelps said. “She gets us connected to the attack really well.”
Junior Ana Candanoza is back to give the defense another solid returnee in the middle.
In the forward positions, senior Sophia Bauer, senior Madyx Mooney and senior Isabel Morales-Marquez bring back another level of experience. The coach added that freshman Kya Bolton shows promise at forward and could have an immediate impact.
The team has 10 seniors in all, a group that also includes forwards Petra Hernandez and Charis Bumstead. Juniors Logan Cook, Jessica McLennan, Maggie King and Ellie Dye are all contributors in the midfield. Sophomores Annaleise Brown at defender and Jordyn Hood at midfielder round out the varsity roster.
Said Phelps, “We have high expectations for ourselves.”
Philomath is coming off a season that featured records of 13-3 overall and 9-1 in the Oregon West, a performance that got them the No. 5 OSAA ranking. The team moved past Molalla in the first round of the playoffs but exited in the quarterfinals with a loss to Hidden Valley.
The Warriors have a challenging nonconference schedule that includes No. 5 Gladstone and No. 1 Marist Catholic, along with Valley Catholic and Junction City. Those rankings refer to the OSAAtoday preseason coaches poll. Philomath was ranked No. 6.
“We always try to add that into our preseason schedule so we can test ourselves,” Phelps said about tough opponents.
The Gladstone game will be on the road Tuesday and represents the season opener. The Marist game will be played Sept. 12 at Philomath.
The conference will be tough as well with defending state champion North Marion leading the way.
“We beat them last year, we split with them,” Phelps said, “and I feel like we’re as good as anybody.”
Phelps returns for his ninth season as the head coach of the Warriors and will be assisted by Anton Grube.