Siuslaw and Creswell may soon be playing rivalry games, but Wednesday's soccer match was a good preseason effort as the Vikings prepare for 4A Sky-Em League play and Creswell for 3A action.

The Vikings (1-1) won 4-1 in their home opener at the Siuslaw High School field, and next host Tillamook at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13.

"It was a very competitive and fun game," Siuslaw coach Londi Tomaro said. "Every single one of our players made important contributions on the field.

"We are looking forward to the rest of our season."

If the Vikings are looking even further ahead, say into the 2022-23 school year, they may have just seen one of their league opponents in action.

The Oregon School Activities Association committee in charge of classification and districting has Siuslaw and Creswell in the same league in the first draft of the process which should be complete by mid-December.

In the six-classification format, Siuslaw and Creswell play in a league with Harrisburg, La Pine, Pleasant Hill and Santiam Christian.

In a revised five-classification format, Siuslaw and Creswell are in a league with Elmira, Harrisburg, Junction City, La Pine, Marist, Pleasant Hill and Sisters.

For now, the Vikings and Bulldogs were content to be on the field, having fun, competing hard.

Freshman midfielder Ray Brito Xilot scored two second-half goals as the Vikings rallied from a halftime tie.

Creswell, dominating the early minutes of the match, scored first off a corner kick, but Siuslaw matched that on a breakaway goal by sophomore forward Dylan Jensen off a feed from senior midfielder Jason Garcia.

Xilot broke the tie with a goal off a penalty kick in the second half, and he and Garcia padded the lead with the final goals of the match.

"As coaches, we were very happy to see the team passing and communicating well and executing plays together," Tomaro said. 

"Our players were moving into space, looking for and making passes, creating scoring chances, pressuring the opponents and cutting off the passing lanes."

Sophomore goalkeeper Derrick Vanduch had seven saves in the match, four in the second half.

NOTES

The Creswell junior varsity won 6-1. Siuslaw only had 10 players, played the first half 9-on-9 and the second half 8-on-8 when they lost a player. …

Monday's Labor Day match at North Bend has been cancelled. … the Vikings have added a home game Sept. 13 against Tillamook ...

In other matches involving Sky-Em League teams Wednesday, Elmira opened its season with an 8-0 loss at home to Pleasant Hill. ...

Wednesday's match was attended by new Siuslaw News sports reporter Zac Burtt, a 1995 Siuslaw graduate, and his son, Owen, an eighth-grader at Siuslaw Middle School. …

SIUSLAW VARSITY SCHEDULE
Record: 1-1 overall, 0-0 in Sky-Em League
Thursday, Aug. 26 — at Newport 8, Siuslaw 0
Wednesday, Sept. 1 — at Siuslaw 4, Creswell 1
Monday, Sept. 6 — at North Bend, canceled
Monday, Sept. 13 — Tillamook, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 16 — Pleasant Hill, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 20 — at Marist, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 22 — Marshfield, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 27 — at Junction City, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 29 — at Elmira, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 4 — Cottage Grove, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 6 — Marist, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 11 — at Marshfield, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 13 — Junction City, 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 18 — Elmira, 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 20 — at Cottage Grove, 6:30 p.m.

VARSITY ROSTER
Seniors
  3 Kassandra Dietrich, defender
11 Kayden Lane, goalkeeper/midfielder
15 Imanol Pelayo, midfielder/forward
17 Jason Garcia, midfielder, co-captain
18 Jerrel Brumley, defender
20 Dante Galli, forward/goalkeeper
Juniors
  5 Alex Goss, defender
13 Noel Hernandez, midfielder, co-captain
16 Lucian Murphy, defender
Sophomores
  1 Eli Tattershall, midfielder
  2 Braxton Hulet, forward
  4 Brayden Linton, midfielder/defender
  6 Derrick Vanduch, forward/goalkeeper
  8 Dylan Jensen, forward
Freshmen
10 Ray Brito Xilot, midfielder

JV ROSTER
Sophomores
Nick W-Terrebrood, defender
Ethan Jagoe, midfielder/forward
Taylor Spencer forward
Freshmen
Landon Curley, forward
Chuck Nelson, forward
Sawyer Larson
Nicholas May, forward
Sylas Gorder goalkeeper/defender
Brandon Jagoe, goalkeeper/forward
Berkley Tregoning, defender
Aidan Murphy, defender/midfielder