The Brookings-Harbor High School girls soccer team opened the first half of Saturday’s 1-6 loss against St. Mary’s High School of Medford strong, scoring a goal in the opening minutes of the first half.

The defense stifled the Crusaders’ front line, only allowing two first-half goals against a team that is known for their high-scoring play.

Brookings-Harbor’s lone goal came when Hannah Baron fielded a pass from Jessica Fernandez, drove to the goal and scored.

Late in the first half Bruin captain Brianna Juarez had a chance to tie the game after a handball in the penalty box resulted in a penalty kick for the Bruins. Juarez missed just wide and failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity. 

The Bruins came out for the second half to face a changed St. Mary’s team.

“Dave Potter, their head coach, is one of the best high school coaches in the state,” BHHS Head Coach Fred Juarez said. “He made adjustments at the half, and those adjustments worked.”

The adjustments made by Potter enabled his team to score four more goals to end the game 6-1.

The Lady Bruins were seemed to be physically exhausted at the end of the game due to playing with only two subs.

“Having limited subs and having the subs play the JV game got us,” Juarez said. “We played as hard as we could.”

“The heat was a factor, and our conditioning could stand some improvement,” Juarez added. “We started walking in the last 15 minutes.”

While the final result was a line in the loss column, Juarez was optimistic about the Lady Bruins future.

“That game wasn’t a 6-1 game, that was a 2-1 game. We played great overall,” Juarez said. “If we capitalize on our executions, we score three or four more goals. We just need to capitalize.”

The JV squad also lost failing to score in their 0-6  shutout against the Crusaders’ JV.

BHHS 0, 

Cascade Christian 5

The Lady Bruins not only faced a tough Lady Challenger soccer squad in Tuesday’s 0-5 loss, but also a lack of individual drive.

“It was night and day different from the St. Mary’s game,” Juarez said. “It was 95 degrees but that’s no excuse. We are used to the heat by now and we should have played better.”

When asked what positive items could be gleaned from the loss Juarez immediately exclaimed, “The JV won, they won 3-1.”

“Jamie Macken, Caitlyn Pruden and Ruth Ferrer all scored,” Juarez said. “And Mimi Fernandez had something like eight or 10 saves in the goal.”

Despite the loss, Juarez is still positive for the beginning of the Far West League season. 

“It was pretty disappointing, but each game so far we’ve improved,” he said. “This game we were like the stock market: We fell right out of the sky.”

Just like the stock market though, Juarez contends, the team will come back up and play well when the FWL play begins at Douglas High School on Sept. 22.