By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

LEBANON, Ore.–  Rocky once said, ‘it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward’.

Adversity is something coaches try to simulate in practice, but it’s not until your faced with it in real life where you have to battle through it.

With injuries over their last two games, against Molalla and Lebanon, the Stayton Eagles had to take on this hard hit, but Head Coach Lael Anderson has enjoyed how her team has kept moving during this process.

“Having injured players is frustrating for the athlete and our team,” started Anderson. “When the girls are challenged to play out of their regular positions they become more well rounded as soccer players.

“Learning different positions makes them more versatile as a player and helps them better understand how important moving without the ball is regardless of what your assigned  position is. The girls have been great about playing new positions and communicating what they are learning.”

Though injuried, theEagles are battle-tested entering Oregon West Conference play where they take on the two teams that finished in front of them in 2015 in Philomath and Cascade.

But Stayton will use this time between Tuesday’s loss to the Lebanon Warriors and Tuesday’s game versus the Philomath Warriors not just to heal up, but fix somethings they need to work on in the process.