CHS gets goals in a hurry
in 3-1 defeat of Beavers
Photo by Sean Patterson
Forward Hunter Benedict battles for possession just before scoring against South Eugene Tuesday.
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
A three-goal spree in the first half proved to be
the difference for the Canby High School boys soccer team Thursday in Beaverton. Not only
did the outburst break open the game in Canby's 3-1 defeat of the Beavers, it effectively
put an end to the team's goal-scoring struggles over the first two weeks of the season.
Going into Thursday's game, Canby had scored just three goals in its first four matches.
Remarkably, they managed to equal that total in a six-minute span against the Beavers.
"The guys discovered that there isn't a wall in front of the net," Canby head
coach Scott Enyart said of his team's sudden outburst. "They (Beaverton) seemed to go
into a shell, and we were able to take advantage. I think they were a bit surprised to see
us fly at them like we did."
Beaverton actually scored first before Canby went on its rampage late in the second half.
It all started with a goal from Jake Norquist in the 27th minute. Four minutes later, Luke
Sommer put Canby ahead to stay with another goal off a scramble.
Finally, just two minutes after that, Ivan Munoz capped the scoring by knocking it yet
another loose ball. Beaverton didn't know what hit them. "We kept moving people
around, flip-flopping wingers and making other adjustments," Enyart said. "And I
don't think they were able to keep pace.
As a team, we're beginning to understand how to effectively pass the ball.
Rather than rush things, we're learning to hold the ball and wait for our runners. When we
do that, we can break people down."
The win lifted Canby to 2-2-1 on the season as the team prepared for its final nonleague
match, a Sept. 26 visit to third-ranked Westview. Next week, Canby embarks on its
Pacific-9 Conference schedule with an Oct. 2 home match with Newberg at 7 p.m.
Two days before Canby overwhelmed the Beavers, the Cougars earned a 1-1 tie with longtime
rival South Eugene Tuesday afternoon at CHS.
Canby had several chances to score but couldn't take advantage.
"We got the better of play for the most part, and we allowed a silly goal,"
Enyart said. "We were able to keep it in their end for much of the second half but
couldn't find the back of the net."
Canby did find the net in the first half, as Hunter Benedict ran onto a Mark Madeira
through ball and scored to even the count at the 30-minute mark.
IN J.V. ACTION: Canby moved to 1-4 with a 4-0 loss to South Eugene and a 3-2 defeat of
Beaverton. The freshmen stand at 3-1 after dominating Silverton 6-0.
Close calls
don't go
Canby's way in Silverton
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
It was a tale of two races
Wednesday in Silverton, but unfortunately for Canby, the result was the same.
Taking on Silverton and McMinnville in the season's first Pacific-9 Conference dual, the
Cougars easily swept an incomplete Foxes contingent while dropping narrow decisions to the
Grizzlies on the 5,000-meter South Falls course in Silverton. Canby's girls actually took
the top two placements, compliments of Jean-Marie Peterson and Zoe Anton, but they still
came up a point short (28-29) on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, Canby's boys lost to McMinnville by three points (27-30) despite the fact
Canby's seventh runner crossed the finish line before the Grizzlies' fifth.
"In the case of the girls, their fifth, sixth and seventh runners came across before
our fifth, giving them just enough to beat us," Canby head coach Tom Millbrooke said.
"It was a different story for the boys, but the same result. There, we got our
seventh in before their fifth, but they had three of the top four runners. It was a good
race in that it was close and every runner mattered. It's just unfortunate that we came
out on the wrong end."
As a result, both the CHS boys and girls settled for a split in their first Pac-9 test of
the season. The meet came as Canby prepared for a trip to Yakima, Wash., where the Cougars
will meet up with some of the region's best runners at Franklin Park on Sept. 30.
The entire Pac-9 Conference is taking a break from competition this week because of
numerous invitationals taking place.
That gives Canby time to reflect on Wednesday's performance, which featured its share of
highs and lows.
On the plus side, the team had to be happy with the one-two performance of Peterson and
Anton in the girls' race. The former crossed first in 21 minutes, 45.9 seconds and the
latter in 22:20.1.
Unfortunately, the Cougars didn't get anyone else across until Jessica Johnston broke the
line seventh at 23:08.6. Lexi Newman finished two places after her, in 23:45.6, and Pam
Wingate clocked in at 24:20.7 for 13th.
Teammates Chanelle Willis and Sarah Webber were 15th and 17th, respectively. Canby's boys,
meanwhile, got a second-place performance from Buck Stone, whose 18:26.7 put him behind
only Aaron Johnson of McMinnville. Johnson, a transfer from University High School in
Spokane, Wash., was the eighth runner on University's loaded roster last season.
The Cougars made things interesting when Jeremy Greatricks crossed fifth (18:58.9) and
Matt Zwicker finished sixth (19:01.2), but it wasn't quite enough.
Rounding out Canby's top seven were Ben Dowdy (eighth in 19:12.3), Dennis Brands (ninth in
19:24.7), Jason Parker (10th in 19:27.0) and Chris Muller (12th in 20:07.9).
"This isn't a great start for us, losing one of our opening duals, but this at least
gives us a better idea of what we need to do to improve," Millbrooke said. "The
thing is, if the races had ended at two miles, we probably would have won both of them.
McMinnville just had a better finish on both sides."
Canby did get another strong effort from freshman Tyler VanAcker in the jayvee race. He
crossed second out of 29 runners in a time of 20:44.
Teammates Patrick Johnston and Steven Blunck were close behind him in third and fourth,
respectively.
Canby's meet in Washington this Saturday is scheduled for an 8:30 a.m. start.
Gerhardt does it again
for N. Marion
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
Yet another solid performance by North Marion cross
country runner Erin Gerhardt highlighted the Huskies' trip to the Oregon Coast for the
12th annual Seaside Three Course Challenge meet Saturday.
The competition is by far the largest the Huskies will take part in this season, as a
whopping 1,314 athletes from all over the country were in attendance.
As always, meet organizers broke the event down into three races, with "easy,"
"moderate" and "difficult" courses. Athletes determine which race they
will run by selecting a poker chip out of a coffee can the night before. A red chip is the
most difficult, a blue means moderate and a white is the easiest.
Gerhardt wound up with, appropriately enough, a blue chip, putting her in the moderate
race. She responded by placing fifth out of 172 runners and first among her small-school
opponents.
"In my cross country career at North Marion this is only the second time an athlete
has earned first place in a race," said a proud Pete Danner, the team's head coach.
"I'm very proud of her. She worked really hard for it.
She didn't say much about it, but you could tell she was pretty proud of the
accomplishment, too."
Meanwhile, Curtis Hammond had another solid outing with his 57th-place run (10th place
among small schools) in the 312-runner difficult race for boys. Freshman Josh Davidson
also wound up on the red course and finished 131st.
Danner did not report times because of their irrelevance. "The courses are not
measured for a specific distance, and the difficulty of the course is a major factor in
the time," he said.
Also running for the Huskies were Jessica "Dewey" Long, who crossed 76th out of
183 runners on the hard course, and Renee Douglas, who was 127th in the same race.
Julia Lieske, competing on the moderate course, came in a respectable 69th. In the boys
moderate heat, Joey Cady and Jacob Taylor crossed a respective 120th and 146th out of 263
athletes. And in the girls easy run, Kristina Griffiths and Brittney Hammond managed to
finish the course, the former 93rd out of 160 runners.
Finally, in the boys easy race, Jeff Roerig led a big North Marion contingent with a
126th-place showing in a 224-man field. Also finishing were Zach Tautfest (149th),
newcomer Jason Douglas (155th), Tyson Warden (182nd) and Mike Martin (205).
"All of these guys worked hard on a very long course, and it should give them the
confidence to attack shorter 3K courses a little more aggressively," Danner said.
This week will be a busy one for the Huskies. On Thursday, they host the 48th annual North
Marion Invitational at Champoeg State Park. Action begins with junior high races at 3
p.m., followed by the high schoolers at 4 p.m. Between 12 and 15 schools are expected to
participate.
Also, the team will put on the fifth annual Coed Twilite Two-Mile Relay during halftime of
the Huskies' Friday night football game with Central. As if that weren't enough, a handful
of North Marion runners will compete at the large Northwest Classic at Lane Community
College on Saturday.
Cougars make quick work
of Tigard, survive scare
with Foxes
By Sean Patterson
for the Herald
What's even better than winning a league volleyball match on the road? How
about taking two matches.
Thursday in Tigard, the Canby High School squad did just that in beating both the host
Tigers and taking care of business against Silverton.
In the opener, the Cougars had no trouble disposing of Tigard in two games, winning 15-10,
15-13. They struggled a bit somewhat in the second match but still pulled out a 15-6,
3-15, 15-6 decision over the Foxes.
With that, the Cougars continued their recent tradition of dropping their first Pacific-9
Conference match before going on a tear. The team lost its opener Sept. 7 in Tualatin and
hasn't lost any of its four matches since.
"We've had a way of doing that the last couple years," said Canby head coach
Judi Gay of the team's penchant for slow starts. "We had our problems (Thursday),
especially when it came to passing. But we were able to pull together in that third game
against Silverton and get the win. Overall, we played well aside from the second game in
that match."
The Cougars (4-1) made quick work of Tigard in the opener, as outside hitters Jenny
Lawrence and Caitlin O'Connor teamed with middle blocker Michelle Boeckman to dominate the
net.
O'Connor was particularly sharp in the first game, knocking down five kills, before
Lawrence shouldered most of the kill load in the second, recording seven.
Boeckman managed five kills for the match - an indication that Canby didn't pass all that
well.
"Our passing just wasn't there," Gay said. "And when that happens you don't
get much production out of the middle. We also struggled a bit with our serve, with four
misses in the two games, but we were able to get the key points when we needed them."
Canby's momentum carried over to the first game of the Silverton match. The team also
benefited from several errors by the Foxes.
The second game, though, was a different story, as a different Canby lineup couldn't get
much of anything going.
But the Cougars weren't about to let this one get away. They went back to their original
lineup for the third game and won easily, thanks in part to Ellie Raines, who had several
big stuff blocks.
Boeckman also came up big, getting 14 digs for the match, while the offense was evenly
distributed between Raines (five kills), Boeckman (four kills), Lawrence (seven kills) and
O'Connor (four kills).
Gay also credited the play of Danielle Palmer, who came up with some clutch blocks of her
own, in the victory.
"I honestly can't tell you what went wrong in that second game - and I don't even
think the girls know what happened," Gay said. "The important thing is, we
didn't let it get us down. We responded with a great third game."
The wins come as Canby continues its league schedule with Forest Grove (Tuesday) and
Newberg (Thursday) this week. Both matches are at home and are scheduled for 7 p.m.
starts.
Canby will also play in a David Douglas tournament this Saturday beginning at 8 a.m.
