By Jeremy McDonald

Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

AURORA, Ore.— The Stayton/North Marion Boy’s 4A Oregon West Conference game was set up to be a star-studded game, and it turned out to be just that.

Leo-Rey Ramirez cut the OSAA No. 2 Eagles lead to 3-2 with four minutes to play and looked to tie it behind their aggressive offensive play with how much time was left.

However, the defense of Stayton (9-0-2) held off the OSAA No. 3 Huskies (10-1-1) last minute rush to tie and gave the defending 4A Champions their first loss of the season.

“I expected us to come out and play with effort.  To play with heart, to play with passion was one of our keys to success and we did that,” said Eagles head coach Chris Shields.  “We were able to counter off of them pushing forward.”

North Marion Head Coach Rafael Pelaez added that mistakes and Stayton’s ability to capitalize played into the decision.

“(Stayton) play well,” said Pelaez.  “The only thing I said is that we made two mistakes and they scored on those two mistakes.

“It’s the way it is, one team has to make mistakes and we did today unfortunately and what happened we lost.”

How the game ended was how it started, with aggressive game play and having an answer to the other team’s move.

“It was really intense,” described the Huskies Aaron Caballero on the intensity.  “Both teams knew that if one of us got the win then the league would practically be ours.

Jose Navarro was dominate for the Eagles saving 10 Huskies shots in the first half alone as Stayton played behind the “never say never” philosophy.

“I played well, teammates played well and we played the hardest we could,” said Navarro on his and the defense’s performance.  “We didn’t just give a hundred percent, we gave even more.”

The Eagles defense eventually set up Ivan Navarro’s 12^th minute goal.  North Marion answered in the 25^th minute by Edgar Lopez as their offensive aggressiveness eventually broke down Stayton’s defense.

The score remained at one-all entering the second half.

Looking tired coming out of the break, the Huskies didn’t quite have the same intensity as they did to end the first half.

Behind goals by Ivan and Freddie Navarro in the 43^rd and 57^th minutes and mixed with the support of Pelaez, the North Marion regained their aggressive playing style down 3-1 with 23 minutes left in the game.

“You have to motivate them not to give up,” said Pelaez.  “They feel the support from outside, they go back to the game.  So that was my goal.”

As before, Stayton accepted and embraced the challenged as Jose Navarro and his defenders kept moving the ball back towards midfield.

With about ten minutes left, strategy turned to defense as Ivan Navarro dropped back to protect the goal and combat the pressure from the North Marion defense.

The lone hiccup in the strategy was Ramirez’s goal in the 76^th minute as the Eagles held the Huskies from tying the game in the final four minutes of the game.

“The final 10 minutes we showed how we really played,” said North Marion’s Oscar Ruiz-Contreras.  “Before that, we were never been pressured like that before, this team brought out the best in us.  It’s the first time we’ve been down in a game.

“We’re not a team that’s used to losing.  We’re the defending champions, we’re trying our best to remain champions this year.”

Ivan Navarro, who scored two goals in the game for Stayton, knew the importance of matching the Huskies intensity.

“I knew from the beginning we would have to come out with high intensity,” said Navarro.  “Every time we played them, anytime a team plays them, they play hard the whole match.  So we knew we had to match it their intensity to stay in the game.

SCORE                        1          2          —  T

EAGLES                      1          2          —  3

HUSKIES                     1          1          —  2

EAGLES-  GOALS-  I. Navarro (12’, 43’).  A. Navarro (57’).  HUSKIES-  Lopez (25’).  Ramirez (76’)

NEXT UP:  STAYTON- at Cascade (10/22 3:30pm) NORTH MARION- at Newport (10/22, 6pm)

GIRLS SOCCER- STAYTON 1, NORTH MARION 1- IN STAYTON, Ore.- Senior Alexus Hemphill scored the lone goal for the Eagles in the 1-1 tie against the Huskies.  Stayton is 5-3-3 overall, 4-2-2 in the OWC and has Senior Day Thursday versus Cascade at 3:30pm.  North Marion is 2-6-4 overall, 1-5-2 in OWC and plays their final home game Thursday (10/22) at 4pm.

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!