Years from now the players will have fond memories of the season

Take it from a grizzled old sports guy who’s spent more than a few hours on the sidelines of one playoff game or another—the pain of losing in the playoffs will pass.

It’s tougher to bear a loss when a team makes it deep into the playoffs and feels they are as good as anyone in the state. However, making it that far is something in itself of which to be proud.

The Tribe girls’ soccer team had a good chance of making the 4A state finals, and a pretty good chance of winning it. They didn’t do anything wrong—they just got beat by a team that won it all last year and had been to the semifinals the year before. Gladstone made it two straight titles with their win over Mazama on Saturday. Two years ago it was Mazama that knocked Gladstone out of the playoffs in the semifinals. That was the same year that Scappoose suffered a heart-wrenching loss to Sisters in the semis. In 2009, the Glads also won what was then the 4A/3A/2A/1A playoffs.

It’s sad that this year’s seniors didn’t make the finals, but what they have accomplished is remarkable. They’ve been a big part of building a program that is one of the top four in the state. They’ve made the playoffs for the last three years, and made the semifinals twice. They are 53-11-4 overall and 34-0-1 in the Cowapa League. They never lost to a Cowapa League team, but did have the one tie.

Girls soccer itself has come a long way since they started playing for high school. It’s much more competitive at the highest levels. They’ve increased their skills, their team play, and the program will be solid for some time. That this year’s freshman class is a big part of the program says the program will remain strong for some time.

And Coach Chris Dorough should be lauded for his efforts. He’s seen more girls come out each year and he’s helped them improve their skills. He knows that playing each year at the club level is necessary these days and he’s encouraged that among the team.

It’s sad to see Ariel Viera finish her career—she’s meant a lot to the program. I’ll miss seeing the big smile on her face as she plays. Sending a player in any sport on to a Division 1 school, particularly a national powerhouse team doesn’t happen a lot for small schools. The best part is that the University of Portland is only a few miles away and her fans can still watch her in action.

It was also sad to see the football team bow out of the playoffs with a loss to Baker on Saturday. Was it a game they could have won? Sure. However, Baker did a good job of blunting the Scappoose attack and slowing down play.

The Tribe likes to play an up tempo, no-huddle game and they couldn’t do much of it on a wet Saturday. Untimely penalties, dropped passes, and some good defense proved difficult for the boys.

They, too, can be proud of what they accomplished. A 9-2 record is nothing to sneer at. The Indians went 5-0 in league play, and handily topped Madras in the first round of state.

Baker’s size figured to be a problem, but not something the fleet-footed Indians couldn’t overcome.

A lot of things could have changed the outcome. Maybe playing on turf would have been a better choice. There was a lot of slipping going on Saturday. I’m not sure how Scappoose got referees from Central Oregon, but I thought they did a fair job. They complimented the Scappoose program on it’s sportsmanship. Maybe that was for not complaining about some of their untimely penalties.

It might just be me, but it seemed like the team was a bit out of sorts on Saturday. They just didn’t have the enthusiasm they have had most of the season, and their timing seemed a bit off. They just weren’t clicking, and they never seemed to get into a rhythm. Balls normally caught were dropped, passes were a bit off, snaps were sometimes hitting the ground, and Scappoose’s speed was blunted.

The Tribe has depended a lot on diminutive Paul Revis all season. When he got hurt in the second half, the air seemed to go completely out of the team’s sails. Defensively, the team had a decent game against Baker, but some long drives in the second half ate up huge chunks of time and left Scappoose few options.

Scappoose has given up over 20 points in five previous games, but they’ve also scored 432 points in nine games, and given up just 215.

It was a tough game to lose, but the Tribe should console themselves with what they did accomplish this season. It was a good year. They won the league, they were ranked first in the state, and they advanced past the first round of the playoffs. It didn’t end the way they wanted, but they were a fun team to watch all year. In the end, it was a good year.