Wilsonville has had a fine start to league play after a rough stretch vs 6A opponents, drawing with rivals Parkrose 2-2 and beating Putnam 4-0. However, this last Tuesday wasn’t quite as good of a showing.
Wilsonville had a little bit of momentum going into the La Salle game, having just beat Putnam, and were looking to make a statement. “Everyone thinks we’re worse than we are, and they can walk over us, and we have an opportunity to show we can make a serious run for league champions,” said Junior Midfielder Sergio Day.
La Salle, currently ranked 2nd in 5A soccer, has been dominant throughout their season. They entered Tuesday’s game with a 6-3 record, with two of those wins being through mercy rule victories, six goals or more four times, and winning against every non-6A opponent. Even against 6A opponents, they could keep within a goal of their opponent in two of their three games.
Wilsonville was able to keep up well enough in the first half, having made lineup adjustments to prepare for the game and to match up athletically. The second half didn’t go as well, as the Wildcats fell behind and eventually fell to a great La Salle team, with the Wildcats losing 7-1.
Despite that result, Wilsonville has looked better in their last few games, only falling to 6A Clackamas by a single goal, 1-0. They also lost to 6A powerhouse Jesuit by only two goals and beat Milwaukie 4-0. “The team has been playing pretty well lately, and we’re starting to figure it out with more goals starting to come in. And we’re still figuring out lineups and who’s playing where so it’s good we’re able to make these adjustments as needed,” said Senior Midfielder Jack Miller.
The Wildcats have four games left in league play before the postseason, facing only one team with a winning record the rest of the way. “We’re feeling pretty good about the rest of league play. We aren’t going to take any of these games lightly, though, and go in with the same mindset as every other game. We just gotta win out the rest of our games to make playoffs, so we are pretty locked in,” said Miller. Wilsonville’s next game is against 5-4 Hood River Valley on Wednesday, October 11th.