PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, AUGUST 30, 2019
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KEIZERTIMES.COM
Celts look to reclaim offensive identity
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Despite losing some key
pieces from last year’s team,
the McNary girls soccer pro-
gram still brings a litany of
experience to the 2019 sea-
son — the Celtics have eight
seniors and nine juniors on
their roster.
But one thing that will be
noticeably different about
this year’s McNary team is
how they approach things on
offense in their second sea-
son in the Mountain Valley
Conference (MVC).
Last season, even with
having the talent of forward
Abigail Hawley — a 2018
fi rst-team all-leaguer — and
midfi elders Katy Wyatt and
Gina Munguia — who both
also received all-conference
recognition last year — the
Celtics struggled to score
goals for the majority of the
2018 season.
McNary was shut out in
in seven of their 14 games
last season and even suffered
a scoreless streak that lasted
fi ve games in a row — the
Celtics fi nished the season
with a 5-8-1 record and nar-
rowly missed the playoffs.
However, head coach AJ
Nash has a plan to revitalize
the McNary offense this sea-
son.
“Last year we had a great
group of upperclassmen that
featured midfi elders and
forwards that still struggled
against some of the best
teams in the state. We have
re-worked our game-plan
where we will be adding
more numbers into our at-
tack,” Nash said. “We also
have special things up our
sleeves as it pertains to set
pieces.”
“We want to get more
girls in the box and take
more chances. We’re going
to really focus on maximiz-
ing those opportunities. Our
goal is to have one of the best
set-piece ratios in the state.”
Nash also mentioned that
he hopes to send as many as
nine players to the box at
times this season.
One of the reasons Nash
believes he will be able to
change up the offensive
strategy is because he has a a
group of experienced players
on the back line that he has a
lot of confi dence in.
Seniors Maya Luscomb
and Samantha Alfano have
been a part of the McNary
program for four years and
will be the leaders of the
Celtics defense as they each
will play centre-back. They
will be joined on the back
line by junior Ashlyn Lyda.
Defense was one aspect
of the game that McNary
hung their hat on last season,
giving up just one goal per
game during league play. In
years past, Nash has played
with four on the back line.
This season, however, the
fi fth-year head coach will
rely on his three upper-
classmen to carry the torch
for the Celtics defense as he
plans to add Audrey Williams
to the front line — Williams
was a defender last season.
“Because of how strong
we our in the back, I feel
very comfortable taking
more chances and adding an
extra body into the attack,”
Nash said. “Defensively, I feel
very good about this year. If
you have a good defense, it’s
hard to lose.”
Senior
forward
Julie
Dieker, who is the Celtics
top returning scorer, will be
called upon to play a big role
for McNary’s offense this
season.
“Julie is a standout return-
er. She will be a vocal point
that we will build our game-
plan around this season,”
Nash said.
Senior midfi elder Ariana
Santana is also expected to
be a key contributor to the
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
McNary’s Regann Donahue (14) takes on a defender in the Celtics intersquad scrimmage at Blue Day on Friday, Aug. 23.
Celtics goal-scoring oppor-
tunities.
“(Santana) is crafty and
she can beat people in one-
on-one situations,” Nash
said.
McNary faced one of the
toughest schedules in the
conference last season, with
more than half their games
coming against playoff teams.
The schedule won’t get any
easier in 2019, but Nash is
feels that his girls have a high
combination of fi tness and
soccer I.Q. that will bode
well for them when they
face more challenging oppo-
nents.
“From a fi tness standpoint,
we are further along then
any team that I have coached
in my career here. That helps
up as a coaching staff work
less on fi tness and more on
the tactical stuff that leads to
wins. That is going to keep
us in games,” Nash said.
“On paper, we’re not big-
ger, faster or stronger, but we
can be smarter. We’re going
to challenge our girls to out-
work teams and play with
less predictability.”
The MVC will likely be
one of the best conferences
in the state with teams like
Summit and West Salem,
who are projected to be top-
12 teams. But by the end of
the season, the Celtics hope
to fi nish towards the top of
the league
“Making playoffs is our
goal. It’s always been our
goal, but we feel like this
year, it’s in reach,” Nash said.
“We control our destiny ev-
ery year in our league, so we
want to be in the top three
in conference and that vision
is shared as a group.”
Volcanoes split four-game set with Vancouver
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
Salem-Keizer pitcher Travis Perry got the no-decision against Boise on Thursday, Aug. 22,
throwing 4.1 innings and giving up four runs.
BY HERB SWETT
Of the Keizertimes
The Volcanoes lost to Van-
couver 9-1 on Monday for a
split of the road series with
the Canadians.
Salem-Keizer
actually
outhit the Canadians 8-7,
but the Volcanoes’ hits were
scattered, and in the seventh
inning, three Vancouver hit-
ters drew free passes with the
bases loaded.
Vancouver scored the
fi rst run of the game as Mc-
Gregory Contreras hit into
a fi elder’s choice off starter
Jordan Scott, scoring Spen-
cer Horwitz. It was Scott’s
fi rst start in eight appearanc-
es with Salem-Keizer.
In the bottom of the sec-
ond, Cameron Eden’s hit his
fi rst home run of the season
over the left fi eld fence, giv-
ing the Canadians their sec-
ond run.
Vancouver scored again in
the fourth inning. Contreras,
who had led off with a single
to center then stole second
base, scored as Ryan Sloni-
ger doubled down the left
fi eld line. Miguel Figueroa
relieved Scott with two outs
and struck out the next bat-
ter, Trevor Schwecke.
Alek Manoah, the Cana-
dians’ starting pitcher, was
removed after four innings.
His reliever, William Gaston,
gave up the only Volcano
run, which was a homer to
left fi eld by Alex Canario in
the fi fth.
After Tyler Wyatt bunted
a single for Salem-Keizer in
the seventh, he reached sec-
ond base on an error and
went to third on a wild pitch,
bringing Jeff Houghtby to
bat with one out. Hought-
by had singled and doubled
earlier in the game, but he
couldn’t come through with
a runner in scoring posi-
tion as Vancouver’s Grayson
Huffman struck out the Vol-
canoes second baseman.
Then came the disas-
trous seventh inning for Sa-
lem-Keizer. After Luis De
Los Santos singled to right
and Tanner Morris walked,
Israel Cruz replaced Abel
Adames on the mound. He
struck out Horwitz, but
loaded the bases by walk-
ing Philip Clarke. Contreras
drove in De Los Santos with
a groundout. Robertson
walked and Sloniger doubled
Morris and Clarke home,
which forced Cruz off the
bump.
Scott was the losing pitch-
er with a 3-1 record. Gaston
was the winner at 3-3.
Wednesday, Aug. 21:
Volcanoes 4, Boise 1
(rain-shortened)
The Volcanoes continued
their sweep of home wins
over the Hawks in a game
that was called after six in-
nings because of rain.
Kervin Castro became the
fi rst Salem-Keizer pitcher to
win fi ve games this season.
He pitched the fi rst 5.2 in-
nings, had six strikeouts and
left with a 5-3 record and a
2.74 ERA. Cooper Casad,
who relieved him, had his
fi rst save.
Alex Canario and Yorl-
is Rodriguez each had two
hits for the Volcanoes, and
Jeff Houghtby hit his fourth
home run.
Boise
starter
Micah
Caczor was the losing pitch-
er with a 1-3 record.
Thursday, Aug. 22:
Volcanoes 6, Boise 5
It wasn’t easy, but Sa-
lem-Keizer completed the
three-game sweep of Boise.
The Volcanoes scored the
fi rst run of the game in the
fi rst inning in a unique way.
Armani Smith struck out
swinging on a ball in the
dirt, but when Boise catch-
er Nic Motley threw to fi rst
to complete the putout,
fi rst baseman Tyler Plantier
couldn’t make the play and
Alex Canario scored from
third on the error.
Boise answered with a
four-run second with a sin-
gle, a sacrifi ce fl y and a two-
run double. In the Volcanoes
second, Brandon Martorano
singled Yorlis Rodgiguez
home, cutting Boise’s lead to
two.
Please see SKV, Page A10