Sitting just off the southwest corner of the soccer field under the shade of a tree Thursday afternoon, a small group of Philomath junior varsity players called out in support of their older counterparts with words of encouragement.
Among the players receiving a little love was No. 10.
Gallery: PHS girls soccer vs. Sweet Home (Oct. 19, 2023)
A collection of photos from Philomath High School’s 8-0 girls soccer win over Sweet Home on Thursday.
“C’mon Dory … good idea … way to go, Dory.”
Isabelle Dory, one of four seniors playing in her final regular-season game on the PHS pitch, scored twice in an 8-0 mercy-rule rout that the Warriors inflicted on visiting Sweet Home. Another senior, Kamilla Grimmer, scored four goals and had one assist. And Bailey Bell, also a senior, scored a goal and had two assists.
“I haven’t made any goals all season so I was glad I could score,” Dory said with a laugh after the team enjoyed celebratory cupcakes. “It’s a lot of hard work and it’s very rewarding once you’re able to score.”
Dory scored her two goals 12 minutes apart in the first half.
“The first one rebounded off the goal and I kicked it with like the inside of my foot,” she said. “On the second one, Maggie (King) passed it to Bailey and there was a defender right there, so I went around the defender and Bailey shot it right to me and I got it into the goal.”
Grimmer, meanwhile, was conducting business as usual with another four-goal performance — her third this season and second this week.
The Grimmer family name has been huge in Philomath soccer in recent years. Her brother, Mark Grimmer, was the Class 4A Player of the Year in 2021 and the top scorer on Philomath’s state title team — finishing that year with 30.
“We all compete against each other … I’m always aiming to beat him,”Grimmer said, doing the postgame interview after a cupcake had been smeared on her face. “I just love competing with my sisters, too, and they all had great accomplishments. It’s hard to live up to but I tried my best. Having a team like this really helps you get up and get those goals.”
Grimmer now has 27 goals with one regular-season game remaining to be followed by the state playoffs.
With Thursday’s result, Philomath has now won games six times on the mercy rule. Two of those came over the outmanned Huskies.
“We wanted to work on offensive efficiency a little bit and so in a game like this where we know we’re going to have a lot of offensive chances,” Phelps said. “Just not giving the ball away or forcing things that we don’t have to but being efficient with our chances. I think we did a pretty good job.”
The seniors played a key part of the victory with all four getting their names on the stat sheet. In addition to the Grimmer, Dory and Bell goals and assists, senior Eevi Rolfe had an assist.
“Kamilla and Bailey have been here all four years — their freshman year was that weird spring COVID season,” said Phelps, who has been coaching the girls soccer team since 2016. “For them to stick around and be able to grow into the players that they are — a couple of the best players in the state in my opinion — it has been pretty fun to watch.”
This game was over quickly with Bell scoring in the second minute. Grimmer followed with goals in the eighth, 17th and 20th minutes to make it 4-0 just midway through the first half. Juniors Aspen Russell and Isabel Morales-Marquez had assists on the second and third goals, respectively.
Dory’s goals followed in the 25th and 37th minutes with assists by junior Madyx Mooney and Bell.
The game continued for just over nine minutes into the second half. Grimmer’s fourth goal of the game came in the 42nd minute. And the game ended on an own goal by Sweet Home in the 50th minute.
Philomath (11-2 overall, 8-1 Oregon West) will hit the road Tuesday for its regular-season finale at Stayton. The Warriors defeated the Eagles, 8-0, in another one of those mercy rule games back on Oct. 5. The game is scheduled to start at 6 p.m.
