The Crook County High School boys soccer team has high expectations for this season.
The team reached the playoffs a year ago and have a solid nucleus of returning players. In addition, several athletes who had played previously then switched to cross country have returned to soccer.
“With the return of some guys that didn't play last year and some of the new faces, this is a real seasoned team and they are looking to have a lot of fun this year,” head coach Bryan Housley said. “We are not settling for anything less than a district championship this year. It's one game at a time, but we feel like we have put ourselves in a good position to compete for that and that's what we are going to do; one game at a time, one half at a time we are going to go after it.”
To win the title, the Cowboys will have to unseat two-time defending Tri-Valley Conference champion Madras, who have a new coach this year but returns two first-team all-leaguers and three others who received all-league honors in 2023.
The Cowboys have had 49 players turn out for soccer, and Housley expects to have a few more show up now that school has started. That gives Crook County the flexibility to have three full teams, ensuring that everyone will get at least some playing time. However, they are still looking for a coach for the JV2 squad.
Perhaps even more important than the good numbers and the experience is that Housley is pleased with what he is seeing in practice.
“It's the best work ethic I have seen on a team in my career,” he noted. “We have high marks on all of our fitness levels, our skill sets are top-notch and our work rates are really nice. I've got no complaints.”
Housley added that he is also really pleased with the team's leadership.
“That's the thing,” he said. “This is the best leadership we have had and it doesn't just include the guys wearing the bands. Everyone takes a role and they are self-managing what they need to do. Everyone knows the philosophy and what they need to do, so it makes my job a lot easier.”
The Cowboys went 2-1 on Thursday at the Caldera Jamboree, defeating Sisters 4-0 and Mountain View 1-0, while falling 1-0 to Redmond.
Against Sisters in the jamboree opener, Jaycob Miller opened the scoring, while Eli Oelkers scored the next two goals and Dani Vargas closed out the scoring, while Juan Gomez scored the Cowboy goal against Mountain View.
However, even that match the Cowboys forced the action most of the game. Redmond scored just seconds into the 20 minute match following a Crook County turnover and a foul inside the penalty area.
“In my opinion, we haven't gotten beat yet, except for by ourselves,” Housley said. “That was a mistake that I can guarantee won't happen again, so it's going to take a lot more than that for teams to get through us.”
Housley added that the Cowboys had more than 15 shots on goal in the first two 20 minute games of the jamboree and had more shots on goal in the final match.
“I'm pretty happy with that,” he said.
The Cowboys open the season with a game against Ontario at Bend Pine Nursery on Friday, Sept. 6 beginning at 5 p.m. The team plays again the following day, also at Bend Pine Nursery against La Grande, this time at 10 a.m. Crook County is also scheduled to face Cottage Grove, who is ranked No. 1 in the first Class 4A poll, as well as Riverside, who is ranked third in the 2A/3A rankings.
“Preseasons is going to put us up in the rankings,” Housley said. “We are looking for some good tough opponents in the preseason to ready us for those league games.”
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