By Jeremy McDonald

STAYTON, Ore.—The OSAA 17^th-ranked Stayton Girls Soccer team’s final push for the playoffs begin Tuesday afternoon against Newport on the Eagles home turf.

Stayton (4-3-1, 3-2 OWC) is currently sitting third in the OSAA 4A Oregon West Conference and are a full-game behind Philomath for second place in the conference.

Newport however, are looking for their first league win of the season against the Eagles.

Having lost to Stayton earlier this league season 2-0 and having scored one goal since their 2-2 tie against Sweet Home on September 15, the Cubs are hoping to play spoiler to the Eagles season at this point.

The key to the game is going to come down to the Stayton offense taking advantage of the Newport defense with an attacking front as the Newport defense has allowed 21 goals in five league games.

“Our game plan is to get the ball to our outside midfielders and attack the space on the outside of the field,” said head coach Ian Van der Zwan.  “We are going with two forwards to try and have more attacking force.

“I just want my girls to go out there and play the way they have been all season.  If we do that, then we should get the result we need.”

Kickoff is at 3:30pm at Stayton High School.

Jeremy McDonald is a professional sports journalist in the Salem/Portland area and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalist in Oregon with B.S. degrees from Southern Oregon University in Journalism (2011) and Health/PE (2013).  Got a story idea? Email him at jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com or on Twitter at @J_McDonald81!