Viks make strides but fall to Huskies in first game in program’s history

August 29, 2022 — Coach Amy Tregoning and her players made history last Thursday when they took the field as the first girls soccer team in Siuslaw High School’s long athletic history. Though the Viks fell 6-1, the squad took many important first steps as an up-and-coming athletic program.

The Siuslaw girls soccer team traveled to Sweet Home Aug. 25 to face the 4A Huskies for their only non-league game of the year.

The first goal in the team’s history was scored in the second half by freshman Ava Borgnino, who normally plays defender but was asked to play a different position on opening night. She excelled at her new position. Besides scoring the team’s first ever goal, she led the team in shots-on-goal with 5.

“Ava is a strong defender but was asked to play forward last night, which is where her new position may be,” Tregoning said.

This Siuslaw soccer team is extremely young, with nine of its 15 players freshmen. Important contributions were made during this first game by a handful of student/athletes who have yet to take an actual high school class.

One of those young student/athletes is Nyx Harklerode.

“As goalkeeper, Nyx did an amazing job,” said Tregoning. “Sweet Home is a strong team, and kicked shot after shot, working our keeper pretty hard. This is a new position for Nyx this year, and she was able to make 24 saves.”

Though victory is the goal for any game her team plays, Tregoning was pleased by the first time her players stepped on the pitch for an official high school varsity game.

“I’m so proud of our Lady Viks,” the coach said. “Because of summer schedules, I haven't had the whole squad of girls out there more than three full practices. So, this game was about learning to play as a team and learning to trust the players on their team.  This is a very young squad, mostly freshmen, that I saw a great amount of potential in last night, which excites me moving forward.”

As expected, Siuslaw had to work through some early game jitters but showed signs of coming together as a team in the second half.

“The first half I think there were definitely some nervous bugs to work out,” said Tregoning. “The second half I could see them applying skills that we learned at practice, into the game.”

Based on how things came together in the second half and the team’s overall hard play throughout the entire game, this appears to be the beginning of good things for Siuslaw girls soccer.

“We finished this game hard,” said Tregoning. “I am proud of these young women and I'm excited to watch them grow.”

Things get serious quickly for the Viking girls as their next game is the first of the league season. On Tuesday, Sept. 6, Siuslaw will travel to Halsey for the Special District 3 opener against the Central Linn Cobras at 4:30 p.m. The game will be played at Central Linn Elementary School.