Sports
THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2021
THE OBSERVER — 7A
7A
Thursday, March 4, 2021
Th e Observer
BACK
IN THE
GAME
The La Grande High School Soccer team
handily defeats Four Rivers in the first
home game in nearly a year
By ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
LA GRANDE — The La Grande High School Tigers
returned to the fi eld Tuesday, March 2, and seized victory
in the fi rst home game since Gov. Brown lifted restrictions
on high school sports.
Approximately two dozen spectators took to the stands
at Eastern Oregon University’s Community Field to watch
the Tigers soccer team play against the Four Rivers Senior
Preparatory Falcons of Ontario. Parents and media sat
masked and bundled up in blankets as the night went on.
The stands were closed to the general public, while guests
were limited to two persons of the same household per
player, with social distance rules enforced.
Still, that didn’t hinder some die-hard sports fans from
watching the fi rst home game since the pandemic began.
A group of high school students sat in a pickup outside the
fi eld along Sixth Avenue and watched from their vehicle,
and others did likewise. As the Tigers scored, a fl urry of
honks erupted from the vehicles.
“I’m glad to get the kids back on the fi eld. I’m glad
the parents could watch,” said Darren Goodman, athletic
director for La Grande High School. “Hopefully we can
iron out the wrinkles and it’ll get smoother and smoother
each time.”
Regarding restrictions, Goodman said it’s a work in
progress to ensure family members can safely watch the
games from the stands.
“We want to go slow so we’re making sure we’re doing
it safely,” he said.
The game was a blowout with the Tigers leading 5-0
in the fi rst half against the Four Rivers Falcons. The La
Grande offense was too much for the Falcons to handle,
and most of the game was spent near the visiting team’s
net. By the second half, the Tigers played much more
defensively, shifting the ball back toward a middle-game
to force their opponents to wear themselves out.
The gambit worked. The Falcons were running on
fumes from the constant pressure, allowing the Tigers
ample breathing room against any comeback attempts. La
Grande scored two points in the second half, and the game
ended with a resounding 7-0 victory from the Tigers.
The next home game will be the girl’s soccer team
against Four Rivers on Tuesday, March 9.
CCC releases spring season
basketball schedule
CORVALLIS — The Cascade Colle-
giate Conference released the women’s and
men’s spring season basketball schedule
Tuesday, March 2, with Bushnell Univer-
sity, Corban University, Eastern Oregon
University, Multnomah University, Oregon
Tech, Southern Oregon University and
Warner Pacifi c University set to participate.
The spring schedule comes on the
heels of the approval from the Oregon
Health Authority of the CCC’s comprehen-
sive “Return to Play” plan for high con-
tact sports, according to the conference’s
announcement. In mid-February, Oregon
Gov. Kate Browns’ offi ce announced it
would accept the plans for college sports as
well as high school activities that had been
prohibited during the pandemic.
Seven men’s teams and six women’s
teams will hit the hardwood later this
month, after Southern Oregon made the
decision to opt-out of the spring schedule in
women’s hoops.
Photos by Alex Wittwer/The Observer
ABOVE: La Grande High School forward
striker Devin Ingram (17) takes the battle
early to the Four Rivers Falcons on Tues-
day, March 2, 2021, during La Grande’s
fi rst home game in nearly one year.
LEFT: Approximately two dozen specta-
tors look on Tuesday, March 2, 2021, as
the La Grande High School Tigers face
off against the Four Rivers Falcons in La
Grande. Due to the pandemic, no visit-
ing team family members were able to
attend, and viewing was closed to the
general public.
BELOW: La Grande High School assis-
tant coach Eric Montgomery (front) and
the Tigers stand at attention during the
playing of the national anthem before
the game Tuesday, March 2, 2021.
“I’m glad to get the
kids back on the fi eld.
I’m glad the parents
could watch. Hopefully
we can iron out the
wrinkles and it’ll get
smoother and smoother
each time.”
— Darren Goodman,
athletic director for La Grande High School
The schedule will run for an eight-week
period and is set to begin the weekend of
March 19-20 and fi nish April 30-May 1.
The 12-game men’s and 10-game women’s
CCC slate has teams playing each other on
back-to-back dates and incorporates a bye
weekend in which non-conference games
can be planned.
CCC Commissioner Robert Cashell in
the announcement said schools are fi nal-
izing their plans to access antigen testing,
which will supplement the weekly PCR
testing the conference has been doing with
Santiam Hospital in Stayton.
“Our goal is to have all of that in place
to begin play in three weeks’ time,” Cashell
said.
The revised Return to Play Plan includes
strict daily wellness screening, stringent
procedures for mitigating against the intro-
duction and spread of COVID-19, and twice
per week testing. The conference will use
a combination of PCR/antigen testing to
comply with the approved plan.
— The Observer
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