The Siuslaw Vikings soccer teams are learning how much depth and experience matter.

Tuesday, both the Vikings varsity and junior varsity teams lost by 8-0 scores at Cottage Grove.

"Both games ended early due to the mercy rule," Siuslaw coach Londi Tomaro said. "We had a few players out for today, so in both games Siuslaw played with no subs.

"Cottage Grove had several (extra players) at each level. Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to maintain a high intensity game with that imbalance."

The young Vikings, with only one senior on the squad, will fold its junior varsity into the one varsity team for the rest of the season, canceling remaining JV games.

Thursday at 7 p.m., the Vikings, 1-4, face a rematch with Marist Catholic in Eugene. Marist Catholic beat the Vikings this past Saturday in Florence, 4-0.

"Both the JV and varsity teams played hard throughout their respective games," Tomaro said of Tuesday's matches. "We didn't give up on offense — we continued to press the ball into the Cottage Grove end and we attempted to get shots right up to the end. 

"The defense played with great focus and intensity during every scoring attempt. There are definitely things we can work on, but overall I'm proud of our team for maintaining their effort and enthusiasm. 

"Really the biggest difference between the teams was the amount of experience at the varsity level of play, and that is something that we are gaining with each game we play."

In the varsity game, Vikings goalkeeper Kayden Lane had 11 saves, seven in the first half. The Lions took 32 shots in the game, 18 in the first half.

Cottage Grove, 3-1-1, had four goals in each half, the clinching goal on a penalty kick for a handball in the box. 

Siuslaw had a couple of good chances to score.

"Jason Garcia got a hard shot across the front of the goal, which the goalkeeper touched but did not control," Tomaro said. "Dylan Jensen ran in to finish but somehow the ball bobbled around in the corner of the goal, hit the post, and popped out of bounds."

In the JV match, the Vikings simply ran out of gas in the second half, allowing six goals.

"We played 7-versus-7, which means that the players did a huge amount of running," Tomaro said. "(They) worked really hard throughout the entire game."

SCHEDULE
Record: 1-4 overall, 1-4 Sky-Em League
March 4 — at Marshfield 4, Siuslaw 0
March 9 — Junction City 5, at Siuslaw 2
March 11 — at Siuslaw 4, Elmira 0
March 13 — Marist Catholic 4, at Siuslaw 0
Tuesday, March 16 — at Cottage Grove 8, Siuslaw 0
Thursday, March 18 — at Marist Catholic, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23 — Marshfield, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 25 — at Junction City, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 30 — at Elmira, 5:30 p.m.
Culminating Week match — to be announced

ROSTER
  3 Morgan Delle, midfielder, junior
  5 Alex Goss, defender, sophomore
  6 Derrick Vanduch, goalkeeper/forward, freshman
  7 Yoskar De La Mora, forward, sophomore
  8 Dylan Jensen, forward/defender, freshman
  9 Brayden Linton, defender/midfielder, freshman
10 Jaxson Jensen, midfielder, senior
11 Daniel Paasch, defender/midfielder, junior, co-captain
12 Kayden Lane, goalkeeper/midfielder, junior
13 Noel Hernandez, midfielder/defender, sophomore
15 Imanol Pelayo, midfielder, junior
16 Jerrel Brumley, defender, junior
17 Jesus Jason Garcia, midfielder, junior, co-captain
18 Dez Anderson, forward, sophomore
19 Lucian Murphy, defender, sophomore
20 Jake Roberts, forward, sophomore
Coach: Londi Tomaro
Assistants: Nyra Campbell, Kaleena Jensen