Wednesday, October 28, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Outlaws earn share of soccer league title
By Rongi Yost
Correspondent
The Outlaws wrapped up
league play with wins over
Cottage Grove (CG) and
Sutherlin this past week and
finished in a tie with CG for
the league championship. The
two opponents were to go
head-to-head in a tie-breaker
on Tuesday, October 27, in a
match held on neutral turf at
Sweet Home.
Sisters defeated the Lions
at home on Tuesday, October
20, and two days later swept
the Sutherlin Bulldogs 4-0 on
the road.
The Outlaws were thrilled
to beat the Lions, who had
bested them 5-2 earlier in the
season. The Outlaws outshot
CG 13-2.
Coach Thomas Draxler
switched up player positions
in hopes of frustrating the
Lions’ attack. Nika Chick,
normally a forward, and
Michaela Miller, a midfielder,
were moved to defense.
“I wanted to gain a psy-
chological edge and felt like
if we would shut down their
attack we would weaken their
belief that they could score,”
said Draxler. “It worked better
than I could have imagined,
because it depressed Cottage
Grove. My players up front
were able to find more space.”
Nika Chick scored Sisters’
first goal with five minutes
left in the first half. Chick
took a free kick from the side-
lines, and Draxler told The
Nugget that it was clearly the
best goal of the season.
“Nika curled it with her
right foot to the near post, and
the ball glanced off the near
post and slid down the back
of the net,” said Draxler. “It’s
one of the hardest angles to
score from, because Nika had
to hit the target the size of a
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dinner plate.”
At the half Sisters held a
1-0 advantage.
The Outlaws kept to the
strategy in the second half.
CG did a bit better, and did get
two shots on goal, but Sisters
still kept the game in the
Lions’ half most of the time.
With eight minutes left on
the clock, Hannah Ceciliani,
who was playing sweeper at
the time, took a sweet kick
from the sideline, and sent the
ball into the box. The Lions’
keeper punched it into the air,
but three Outlaws followed
up, surrounded the keeper,
and Ceciliani headed it in past
the goalie.
“The way the girls fol-
lowed that ball up just makes
me happy, because it illus-
trates the mental edge we had
established in the game,” said
Draxler. “Three of our play-
ers followed it up and none of
theirs did.”
Draxler told The Nugget
that he appreciated the girls
on the bench, who supported
the seniors by subbing in at
crucial times.
When the final whistle
blew to bring the game to a
close, field and bench players
rushed together in a frenzy of
excitement.
At halftime, the team’s 10
seniors were honored: Anna
Ortega, Olivia Watts, Tessa O’
Hern, Olivia Stewart, Melissa
Young, Hannah Tennison,
Taylor Schneider, Hannah
Ceciliani, Michaela Miller
and Nina Horner.
“I was glad that these
girls got this winning experi-
ence today, in what is poten-
tially their last home game,”
stated Draxler. “They brought
the passion to win, and the
belief that they could. They
also brought a lot of fam-
ily and relatives to the game
today, which helped create the
photo by Jerry baldock
Tate Ricker and the Outlaws won a share of the SkyEm league title.
atmosphere.”
On Thursday, Michaela
Miller scored bookend goals
to lead the Outlaws to their
4-0 sweep on the road against
Sutherlin.
Miller scored an unassisted
goal in the 25th minute. The
Bulldogs’ keeper kicked the
ball out and Miller trapped it,
and kicked it back in over the
keepers’ head.
Thirteen minutes into
the second half, Nika Chick
booted the ball from outside
the 18 and sent a low, power-
ful shot into the corner on an
assist from Shawna Ferrell.
In the 60th minute, Olivia
Stewart took a corner kick
from Olivia Watts. The ball
bounced off a Sutherlin
player and Stewart knocked
it straight into the back of the
net.
Miller scored Sisters’ final
goal with 10 minutes left in
the contest. Michaela turned
a Rylee Weber pass into a
goal when she chipped it past
the keeper from the top of
the 18-yard box. Sisters held
strong for the final minutes to
secure the sweep.
Draxler said, “The field
was very bumpy, which made
it hard to control the ball. We
struggled in the first half and
didn’t play well. In the second
half, the girls started to use
their bodies more, kept their
bodies behind the ball, and we
were able to connect passes.
That’s why we ended up with
more chances and more goals
in the second half.”
Two of the team’s seniors
shared their thoughts on the
game.
“We started out hectic with
each other, and were feel-
ing pressured,” said Hannah
Ceciliani. “At the half we
agreed we wanted to work
together to secure our title,
and we came out stronger and
won.”
Marrisa Young said, “It
was an honor to play together,
and connect and communicate
as seniors today. It was nice
to play our last game with
the younger players, too. We
know we can trust them with
our legacy. They’ve grown as
players and have progressed
so much. They’re ready to
face challenges without us.”
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