Coach Bryan Housley called his Heritage boys soccer team “young, but fun.”
Well, the fun really got started Tuesday night at McKenzie Stadium.
The youthful Timberwolves did not get frustrated by first-half near-misses and converted twice in the second half to open 4A Greater St. Helens League play with a 2-0 win over Skyview.
“Coach told us the stats at halftime,” sophomore Daniel Selleshiy said. “We had 11 scoring opportunities. We were happy we got those opportunities. We just had to build off those opportunities in the second half.”
The Timberwolves entered league play with high hopes after winning their previous four to improve to 5-2 entering Tuesday.
“But those were just non-league games,” Housley said. “They don’t have the same distinction as the 4A GSHL with Skyview, Camas and Union. We had to show that we could play with teams like that, and we did.”
The 4A GSHL figures to be a battle every night as four league teams compiling solid records in the early weeks of the season – Heritage (6-2), Camas (5-1-1), Battle Ground (4-1-2) and Skyview (5-2-1).
Union (2-3-2) found out quickly how tough the 4A GSHL will be this spring in the final game Tuesday at McKenzie Stadium.
Camas junior Dauda Woodruff struck for three goals in the first 20 minutes, leading the Papermakers to a 5-0 win over the Titans.
“We didn’t beat these guys last year, so it feels good,” Woodruff said. “We knew they would play us hard, so we just had to come out strong and keep pressing the ball on them.”
Heritage also had early chances against Skyview, outshooting the Storm 9-4 in the first half. However, the teams went into the intermission scoreless.
“We are a scoring team,” Housley said. “It was just a matter of who was going to step up and put the ball in the net. … I don’t think we ever believed we would not score. We just had to be patient and wait for our opportunities.”
After Skyview nearly got on the scoreboard first when a Storm shot bounced off the crossbar early in the second half, Sellishy took a pass from Brandon Hernandez and slipped a shot past the diving Skyview goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead in the 51st minutes.
“That first goal we got, it was a team effort,” Selleshiy said. “We were building up to that goal. We could have gotten one earlier in the first half, but a goal’s a goal. And then we got another one.”
Skyview worked to tie the score but was turned away by Heritage keeper Kulbir Singh, who recorded six second-half saves.
The Timberwolves sealed the win when Ibra Katchiev took a tapped-in corner kick and curled a shot in to make 2-0 in the 77th minute.
“We knew this week was going to be huge with two tough games before spring break,” Housley said. “I think this win will give us a boost as we face another tough one on Thursday against Camas.”
