By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– The new faces on the Salem Academy Girls Soccer team have been tested two games into the young season.
Central Linn and Oregon Episcopal each were playoff caliber teams in the 3A/2A/1A Classification last season with the Cobras finishing State Runner-Up while the Aardvarks finished in the State Quarterfinals.
But they, the Crusaders, are rising to the occasion. Especially their defense as they’re allowing sophomore Zoe Martin some time to come into the position of goalie as the sophomore is taking over the position from Sophie Pass after Pass’ graduation last Spring.
“Our defensive line has big shoes to fill, replacing a lot of players from last year and our defensive line has definitely stepped up and filled those shoes and we couldn’t be more proud of them,” starts Crusaders’ Head Coach Stephanie Law. “That was the goal, to have a hard preseason to get us ready for league and pushing us to the limits and help us improve in those areas that we need to improve in with having those young players.”
The game against Central Linn saw Salem Academy hold the Cobras to one goal in the first half before trading goals in the second half in the 2-1 defeat down in Halsey on August 28. Fast forward to Saturday and the Crusaders held off the bombardment of offensive aggression from OES to one first half goal in the opening half before the Aardvarks pulled away in the second half in OES’ 3-0 victory at Salem Academy.
These two games, especially their game on Saturday, has helped this young squad that’s led by captains Eleanor Pass, Riley Tillery and Bayley Walker and a few other returners like Sloan James, Joy Greenwood and Alysha Law, in taking that next step in their growth as a squad this Fall.
“It definitely helped us with our shifting, and we were better at communicating with one another against a team that was much more coordinated than we’ve played since. I think it was a good game for us to improve as a team,” said Pass. “We’re just learning to work together as a team. Everyone’s coming out really strong, and it feels like we’re getting better every game as a team. We’re getting better every time.
“We’re definitely going to come out strong on Monday. This game really made us want to win more, and I think we’re going to come out stronger because of it.”
Salem Academy will head up to Tigard on Monday to play Westside Christian before hosting Dayton in a non-league game on Thursday as they look to break into the win column.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
