Oregon falls to Stillman Valley in 1A regional title match

BYRON – With his team trailing 1-0 to Stillman Valley at halftime, Oregon coach Seger Larson could be heard loud and far exhorting the Hawks. It wasn’t until the game’s final minutes that the Hawks took his words to heart and began to attack the Stillman net.

A flurry of three shots within seconds of each other nearly tied the score with 5 minutes remaining, but the Cardinals moved on to the sectional with a 1A Byron Regional title by the same 1-0 score.

“We should have played like that the whole second half,” Larson said. “Stillman Valley made runs and we didn’t. There was no sense of urgency on our part to score until it was too late.”

Eli Rufer had the best chance of the three shots, but Cardinal goalkeeper Kilton Rauman snagged the ball before it snuck in. With its defense up, Oregon continued to put the pressure on, but could not come up with the game-tying score in the fast-paced final minutes.

Stillman Valley scored what proved to be the game-winner at the 6:45 mark of the first half. After the Hawks lost the ball on offense and Stillman booted it deep, Adam Wenberg got behind the Hawk defense and beat goalkeeper Owen Ketter to the ball.

In a 1-on-1 situation, Wenberg controlled the ball from Luke Robert and drilled a shot past the out-of-position Ketter.

“I got a quick touch pass and was able to get my other foot on it,” Wenberg said.

From Oregon’s perspective, Wenberg never should have been in position for the easy score. Seconds before, it appeared the Hawks had possession without any threat of giving it up.

“It was a miscommunication on defense – a 100 percent lapse,” Larson said. “The real problem was our defense got cocky and pushed up. But Stillman Valley is faster than us.”

With 4:35 left in the half, Josh Sitze tried an acrobatic reverse/upside down kick that didn’t come close, but was artistic to see. The real highlight of the contest for Oregon (6-14-3) was Ketter making a diving stop of a Stillman penalty kick by Wenberg in the second half.

Ketter, a sophomore, made several key stops on Stillman scoring attempts, including a wide-open attempt by Robert in the second half.

“It was a decent game with a lot of back and forth,” Stillman Valley coach Brian Frank said. “We created lots of opportunities.”

Oregon, which lost to Stillman 4-1 earlier in the season, played respectively on defense in holding its foe to one goal.

“We were playing aggressively, but not with runs. We wanted the ball in front of us, but not the next ball,” Larson said. “Nobody had any real good chances until their fast break.”

Until the final minutes, Oregon never had any decent shot-on-goal attempts, as the Cardinals defense always stiffened up. Defender Brigham Finch popped a ball from the midfield stripe and saw it go off a Stillman player toward the goal.

Against Byron on Tuesday, a shot caromed off a Tiger player and went in. Not this time, but Finch’s shot did create a little excitement.