Girls soccer: Teagan Champley, Oregon top Genoa-Kingston for sixth straight win

GENOA – Up to six games to start the year, Teagan Champley said Oregon doesn’t want its unbeaten streak to stop anytime soon.

“I think it’s a good change from previous years,” the senior striker said. “It keeps going through each game on a high, wanting us to continue that undefeated streak.”

The Hawks stayed perfect on the season with a 4-1 win at Genoa-Kingston on Friday, using a relentless offensive attack in the first half and holding off any Cogs’ hope of a rally in the final 40 minutes of the Big Northern Conference battle.

Oregon (6-0, 2-0) dominated the ball and kept it on the Cogs’ half of the field. But it wasn’t until the 25th minute Champley tapped the ball back to Deborah Schmid, who rocketed it into the net past Genoa-Kingston goalie Maddie Swanson.

Barely 90 seconds later Champley connected for the second Oregon goal.

“I definitely think it’s good when you have so many opportunities than finally start to really get the win off that, start to score on those opportunities,” Champley said. “It’s really nice to see.”

Anna Stender staked the Hawks to a 3-0 lead on the Cogs (3-2-1, 1-1) in the 54th minute as they continued to dominate the ball.

Genoa-Kingston got its first corner kick with 20:49 left and the Hawks promptly cleared it. But Ally Poegel tracked down the loose ball and launched a high, looping shot that looked more like one of the many 3-point shots the 1,000-point scorer has sunk on the basketball court.

The shot perfectly went between the crossbar and freshman goalie Mili Zaval to put the Cogs on the board in the 60th minute.

“I was like it’s either going in or was just over the goal,” G-K coach Holly Lippold said. “But I keep telling her to take shots from outside the box. I don’t even care cause she has such powerful kicks, so might as well. And sure enough...”

Still a 3-1 game, Poegel had the chance for a penalty kick with 5:47 left, but the shot went off frame to the left and out of bounds. In the 78th minute, Champley added her second goal of the game.

Both teams opened conference play on Thursday, with the Cogs dropping Dixon in overtime, 2-1, and the Hawks routing Rockford Lutheran 8-0. Lippold said her team was down two starting offensive players who had previous commitments - the game was originally supposed to be Tuesday, making Anna Martinez and Yuliza Fuentes miss the game.

Centerback Nora Foss also missed her second straight game with a foot injury.

“We played better than I thought we were going to considering we came off back-to-back games,” Lippold said. “Yesterday was a challenge with the weather and not being outside for practice this week. ... I wish we stepped up a little bit sooner, we did that just a little too late.”

Oregon coach Seger Larson said a combination of long, wet grass and a standout G-K goalie slowed down the Oregon offense, which had scored 27 goals in its previous three games.

“All of our shots that were placed on the ground were slowing down,” Larson said. “And I think they have probably the best keeper in the conference and I think she did a great job.”

Oregon won five games in Champley’s freshman season and finished 11-6-2 last year.

“She’s been a great leader for this team for several years now,” Larson said. “I’m glad that we’re playing well for her senior year.”