By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
TIGARD, Ore.– It was a tough way to close out the week for the Salem Academy Girls Soccer team Saturday morning at Westside Christian. But, it was a good learning experience for the squad going into their final two games of the regular season going into the 3A/2A/1A Special District 2 league playoffs.
It came down to, in the Eagles 3-1 victory over the Crusaders, a few perfectly placed balls around the Salem Academy defense to help Westside Christian pull ahead 2-0 early in the second half of the non-league game.
Jenna Greenwood got the Crusaders on the board in the 54th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1 before Westside got an insurance goal 65th minute and relied on their defense at the midfield to hold off Salem Academy down the stretch.
Going into their games at Sheridan/Willamina and their regular season finale at Taft, the Crusaders will look to sure up that middle part of the field.
“Just trying to solidify the middle, keep working together and keeping our heads up. That’s one thing is keeping our heads up and working together in the middle and to the sides to beat it out,” said Crusader Head Coach Stephanie Law.
“There’s definitely an opportunity for us to step up and work on communication and making our passes work. It was trial and error, and it’s definitely a step forward, ” adds Bayley Walker.
Salem Academy opens up the final week of the regular season at Sheridan on Tuesday before heading to Lincoln City on Thursday for their game against Taft.
Charley Robitsch scored twice, and Maleah Vandergiessen scored another for Westside Christian, who will be at Corbett on Tuesday.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
