The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Outlaws shut out La?Pine 7-0 on Monday, September 13, but on Thursday their 3-0 winning streak came to an end with a 0-5 road loss at Stayton.

In Monday’s matchup against the Hawks, junior Tate Kaczmarek quickly put the Outlaws on the scoreboard with an unassisted goal at the two-minute mark.

Coach Jeff Husmann said, “We’d seen La Pine play in our home preseason jamboree and knew they had a few skilled players. One thing we’ve worked at is making sure, regardless of our opponent, is that we establish the tone early in a match and Tate did that for us.”

“He (Kaczmarek) has a solid vision and understanding of the game and knows how to identify and expose our opposition when he sees an advantage,” added Husmann. “As we have stressed all season, we are most effective when we establish control of the midfield.”

Midfielders Corbin Fredland and Aidan Eckert stepped up and owned the midfield.

Sisters scored their second goal four minutes later. Senior center back Sean Alvarez made a long-range assist to Ricky Huffman for the score. Huffman scored again one minute later off a Fredland assist.

With the lead, Husmann was able to sub in players who he stated have been working hard and deserved minutes on the pitch.

“Baylor Dyer is really developing as a versatile and tough defender, as is Will Fogarty, Taine Martin, and Carson Bell,” said Husmann. “They all put in some solid minutes and brought energy and intelligence to our game. The improvements of these players is evident to the coaching staff and we will certainly lean on them as we get deeper into league play.”

Just before the half, Gavin Christian scored to make it a 4-0 game.

The comfortable lead allowed Husmann to mix it up and try players in different positions. Austin Dean and Taine Martin got to see some time in goal and Husmann noted that both have worked incredibly hard to improve.

In the final half, Sisters focused on possession of the ball. Vincent Christian, who normally plays holding midfield, slid up into the striker spot and scored midway through the half.

Husmann told The Nugget that Christian is capable of any position, helps identify weaknesses in the opposition, and communicates well with coaches and teammates.

Kaczmarek wrapped up the scoring spree with 15 minutes left on the clock.

Of the win Kaczmarek said, “I thought our team worked well together, and we had good communication. We moved the ball well and we created space, which we capitalized on. LaPine had very good sportsmanship, which made the game fun.”

Christian added, “It was a great win for us, but there is still much untapped potential we have yet to find.”

Two days later it was a different story against Stayton. The last few years the Eagles have been at the top of the division and the Outlaws knew they’d be tough to beat.

Husmann told The Nugget that one thing the Outlaws have worked hard on this year is to establish an aggressive tone early in the match, but against the Eagles they struggled to keep possession of the ball and were forced to defend early and often.

Sisters didn’t play their best and it was hard for them to get momentum as they were forced to put 10 players behind the ball. At the half they trailed 0-4.

In the second half the Outlaws tried to just focus on what they could control. They shifted some players to other positions, which Husmann stated helped energize the team.

Taine Martin played at keeper in the second half, which allowed Austin Dean to get out in the field, and Husmann noted that helped change the tone of their play.

“Austin is such an athletic and tough kid,” said Husmann. “He was our holding midfielder and did a great job box-to-box and helped neutralize their powerful offense. This also allowed Vince (Christian) to slide up into a more offensive position and helped give us a few more chances to challenge their tough defense.”

Husmann noted that despite the loss the Outlaws learned some important things about certain individuals and how they can contribute as the team moves forward.

Austin Dean said, “We came out confident in ourselves, but on our heels. As soon as we got more shots on goal and worked our counter attack a lot more, it started to help us compete more. Moving forward we know that we can compete with these tougher teams in our league. We need to come out strong and play our game and put our opponents on their heels.”

The Outlaws defense played a much more cohesive game in the second half, and only gave up one goal.

Gus Patton did an outstanding job at center back, and was fearless taking on the Eagles’ strikers. Baylor Dyer was also a key contributor.

“Baylor really came into his own in this game,” said Husmann. “When we sent him in, you could see his nervousness, but he soon settled in to the speed and physicality of the game. He stepped up to the challenge and certainly could find himself in a starting position.”

Sisters was scheduled to play at Sweet Home on Tuesday, September 21. They will host Newport at home on Thursday, two days later.