It wasn't the prettiest of goals, but the Canby High School boys soccer team will take it.

A goalkeeper's mistake allowed Jacob Vasquez to run onto a loose ball and boot it home in the 78th minute of the Cougars' 1-0 defeat of Barlow Thursday night at Barlow High School.

It was Canby's third one-goal game in as many matches.

"These one-goal games are gonna kill me," quipped Canby head coach Scott Enyart, who watched his team fall 2-1 to Crescent Valley earlier in the week. "This was a case of two very good defensive teams trying to find their way offensively. Both had their scoring opportunities, we just happened to get the break."

Vasquez scored when Barlow's keeper came out for a ball that he couldn't get to, leaving the net unattended. That gave Vasquez, a senior midfielder, a free path to the goal.

Canby made the tally stand up with outstanding defense, which was effective even without varsity regulars Kurt Sommer and Jake Norquist, out because of injuries or illness.

To compensate, Enyart shifted Mark Madeira from the midfield to the sweeper spot and moved Steve Young over to center defender in Sommer's absence. Canby (1-2) held its ground even as Barlow won the corner-kick battle 5-4 and took nine shots on goal. Canby finished the night with 12 shots on the net.

"We had players with new roles and responsibilities, and they responded," Enyart said. "We played well enough defensively, and fortunately we were able to take advantage of a mistake and get on the board."

On Monday night, Canby got off to a slow start in Crescent Valley, allowing two first-half goals. The visitors settled down in the second period and did get on the board themselves, but it was too little, too late.

On the bright side, freshman midfielder Luke Sommer recorded his first varsity goal.

"They came out and flew at us at the start and we weren't ready for it," Enyart said. "Then we had a little chat at halftime and played well the rest of the way."

The 1-1 week came after the Cougars dropped a 1-0 decision to South Salem in the season opener Sept. 7. Looking ahead, the team's schedule doesn't let up, with perennial state power South Eugene paying a visit Sept. 19 and CHS traveling to Beaverton for a Sept. 21 match.

South Eugene has been a thorn in Canby's side since the Cougars beat the Axemen in the 1995 state playoffs. Since then, South Eugene has defeated the Cougars four times.

At least Canby no longer has to contend with scoring machine Nate Jaqua, who has since graduated and is now playing alongside former CHS star Cody Hagler at the University of Portland.

Thursday's match is set for a 7 p.m. start in Beaverton. Canby wraps up its preseason schedule at Westview Sept. 25 and will open its single-round league slate Oct. 2 at home against Newberg.

By Sean Patterson
of the Herald

Not even a monster was enough to slow the Canby High School cross country squad.

Competing at a six-school invitational Thursday at Silver Falls State Park, the CHS boys scored a meet-low 24 points to outlast Philomath (35) and claim their first victory of the young season.

A Canby runner didn't win the race - that honor went to Justin Hale of Philomath - but the Cougars did sport the race's second, third and fourth runners, giving CHS enough of an edge to beat out the Warriors.

Matt Zwicker, the team's fourth runner at the season-opening Canby Invitational, crossed the line second overall in 21 minutes, 23 seconds. Only Hale (20:34) was faster.

The course is perhaps the toughest the Cougars will face this season. Not only is the stretch seemingly longer than 5,000 meters, it features a massive hill, called "The Monster," just after the two-mile mark.

"It's a challenge, no question," Canby head coach Tom Millbrooke said of the course. "But we handled it well when you consider we had five of the top nine runners in a 38-person race."

Close behind Zwicker were teammates Buck Stone, third in 21:41; Ben Dowdy, fourth in 21:50; Dennis Brands, sixth in 21:59; and Jason Parker, ninth in 22:24.

Canby also sported the race's No. 21 runner in Chris Muller (23:41) and the No. 24 finisher, John Pete (24:18).

Collectively, the team scored 24 points to easily beat Philomath, La Center, Wash., (91), Silverton (108), Woodburn (111) and Forest Grove (159).

The CHS girls, meanwhile, were busy taking second place behind the exploits of Zoe Anton and Jessica Johnston, who finished a respective second and seventh.

Anton crossed the tape in 25:12, trailing only winner Megan Czerny (23:55). Johnston clocked a time of 27:06, and teammate Pam Wingate came in moments later to get 13th in 29:09.

Rounding out Canby's lineup were Chanelle Willis, 15th in 29:21, and Sarah Webber, 27th in 31:33.

"We weren't at full strength, but those who ran did a nice job for us," Millbrooke said of the girls.

Canby scored 60 points to beat out La Center, Wash., (81), Woodburn (83), Silverton (incomplete) and Forest Grove (incomplete).

Canby also fared well in the junior varsity races, as Jeremy Greatreaks got second in the 3,800-meter boys race (11:21) and Ellen Kraxberger took third in the girls heat (16:41).

Stephen Blunck (eighth in 12:35) and John McRae (ninth in 12:39) also posted top-10 finishes for the boys.

The Cougars will be in Silverton again to take on Silverton and McMinnville in a Pacific-9 Conference meet at 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 20. This time, however, runners will run the south falls course rather than "The Monster."