Glad booters at the top of the heap

Gladstone’s boys and girls soccer teams take care of business with Molalla and Stayton

By John Denny

The Clackamas Review, Oct 1, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Gladstone girls meet Estacada (2-2-0, 1-2-0) on the road on Thursday and they entertain La Salle (3-3-0, 3-0-0) next Monday.

Senior keeper Scott Gross and senior midfielder Marco Thompson were the heroes for Gladstone boys in last week’s upset of Stayton.

Thompson scored the only goal of the match with just three minutes remaining. It was a counterattack. The Gladiators were playing into a fierce wind throughout the second half and most of the half was at their end of the field.

Senior Jaime Mercado played the ball ahead to Thompson, who took a couple of dribbles and then lofted the ball over the keeper and into the net.

“Marco noticed the goalie was off line,” said Gladstone coach Tyler Lewis. He took a couple of dribbles and kicked it about 25 yards over the goalie and to the far post.”

Lewis said the goal would not have mattered had it not been for the heroics of Gross in-goal.

“Scott made some spectacular saves,” said Lewis. “He made nine saves for the game and seven of them were in the second half….

“I think he’s one of the best keepers in Oregon.”

Lewis had the host Eagles with a 20-11 advantage in shots for the game.

Thompson played hero again in the 2-1 win over Molalla, scoring both Gladstone goals.

His first goal came midway through the first half when he put the ball in play on a long flip-throw-in. The ball came in high and Molalla’s goalie tried to knock it down, but it carried into the net. That goal tied the game at 1-1.

The game-winner came with just 14 minutes to play. Thompson collected the ball at the 50, and carried it down the left side and into the 18-yard box, where he left-footed it inside the near post.

“They had one really good threat [senior Brenden Anderson],” said Lewis. “Our defense did a great job of containing him. He had one assist and that was it.”

Lewis praised defenders Jake McKay, David LaValley, Cody Allen and Christian Bass for their efforts in containing Anderson and his teammates.

Lewis had his Gladiators with a 23-18 edge in shots. Each team had four corner kicks.

Lewis said, “Our goal is to make the league playoffs and step-by-step, we’re getting closer to making that happen.”

But Lewis cautioned, “It’s a tough league. Everyone’s beating everyone. The team that’s in sixth place now could end up in first place by the end of the season. We’ve got to show up every day.”

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