Late goal lifts Vikings past Junction City, 4-3


Senior Jaxson Jensen scored the game-winning goal with 9:07 to play Thursday, lifting the Siuslaw Vikings past Junction City, 4-3, in a Sky-Em League game in Junction City.

"It was a really exciting game to coach and watch and was a great victory and morale boost for the players," Siuslaw coach Londi Tomaro said.

"The win was made even sweeter by the fact that our spectators were allowed to attend and some of our supporters could be there to cheer us on in person.

"It meant a lot to the spectators and it meant a lot to the team. We're looking forward to our final game next Tuesday at Elmira. Kickoff will be 5:30 p,m, and as of now, no visitor spectators will be allowed."

The win was Siuslaw's second in its inaugural season at the varsity level. The Vikings, 2-6, snapped a four-game losing streak that followed their first win ever, 4-0 at Elmira.

The Vikings outscored the Junction City 3-0 in the second half to rally from a 3-1 deficit.

"Going into the game we felt that it would be a competitive game and that we had a decent shot at winning," Tomaro said. "We switched some players around from our normal lineup for the start of the game to try to exert more offensive pressure and get more scoring chances.

"Unfortunately, those changes did not work as effectively as we would have liked and Junction City scored 3 goals in the first 30 minutes of the match. In the midst of the half we switched the defense back toward our standard configuration and shut down Junction City's easy access to our goal. In the last minute of the first half our offense made a push into the Junction City goal area and Daniel Paasch and Dez Anderson combined in front of the net for a goal, ending the first half 1-3.

"At half we made a few more adjustments to our lineup, including putting our regular starting defensive line of Jerrel Brumley, Noel Hernandez, Daniel Paasch, and Alex Goss back together. Along with Kayden Lane in the goal they shut down the Junction City offense for the rest of the game.

"Despite having some runs and passing combinations deep into our end, Junction City did not score again. Our midfielders and forwards did a great job of winning the ball and pushing up the field into Junction City territory. Our passes in the second half were much more accurate and our attack was much more concentrated and intense.

"Jaxson Jensen scored from close in the side of the goal box, sliding the ball right in the near corner behind the goalkeeper. Dylan Jensen scored two goals. The first was set up beautifully by Dez Anderson who ran onto the ball and did a sliding kick into the center just as the goalkeeper was diving for the ball. Dylan ran in and finished into the empty net. Dylan nearly scored a third goal with a header off of a corner kick but the ball bounced out of the goal without fully crossing the line."