By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
TURNER, Ore.– The Cascade Boys Soccer team ended their non-league slate with a tough test.
And with that tough test, they passed it.
The Upstart Cougars, entering their home game against 4A juggernaut North Marion 4-0 on the year. Cascade knew how big this game was going into league play, the Huskies are coming off of back-to-back 4A State Runner-Up finishes and are eyeing another deep playoff run this year as well. So the Cougars tighten up their cleats and got to work.
The home squad came out as the aggressors. Cascade kept the ball to their offensive half for a good chunk of the opening 40 minutes, North Marion had a few runs into the Cougar defensive half-field, but couldn’t really get comfortable as Cascade had on the other side of the field.
And despite the discrepancy in offensive flows, the Huskie defense rose to the occasion. The shots that the Cougars did take, were off their marks. With four injuries to their rotation and lineup, North Marion did pretty well holding their own against the Cascade pressure.
“We knew that it was going to be a good challenge,” sasid North Marion Head Coach Austreberto Delgado. “The defense is pretty good, we kind of struggled with the injuries in the Midfield. I’m really impressed with my defenders, they did what they’re supposed to, unfortunately we received two goals. “
In the closing seconds of the first half, the Cougars broke through. A putback goal by Liam Clausen with about twenty seconds remaining in the opening half of the game. It was 1-0 Cascade and the score remained the same going into the halftime break.
“We’ve been working on that a lot in practice, pressuring the defense on-and-on until we get the ball in,” starts Clausen. “That (goal) felt really good. At halftime, it made us work even harder because we knew that we had to push it harder.”
The Cougars knew they had to push it harder in the second half because the Huskies would do the same. And it came to fruition in the opening minutes of the half where the Huskies came out aggressive. They threatened to tie this game up at one, but Cascade rose to the occasion themselves as well and held off that pressure too.
Eventually the Cougars managed to get that insurance goal, by way of Adan Martinez in the 65th minute. Cascade led 2-0 at this point and held off North Marion to improve to 5-0 on the year. Their fifth win is the most that the program has won since they won seven back in 2022.
“It was amazing, I don’t have words, that’s how crazy it was,” said Martienz of the goal and result. “It’s amazing, the team has been working hard. The more we work, the more wins we’ll get. I just love this team.”
The Cougars will open Oregon West Conference play on Thursday at Centra/Perrydale while North Marion will open Tri-Valley Conference play at home against Molalla.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
