Boys Soccer: Hawks edged by NLC foe

HOUSTON —Houston head coach Chad Rice is finding his Hawks in a bit of unfamiliar territory.

Traditionally, Houston has been the squad that continually struggles with numbers and the team that’s the perennial pick to finish in the Northern Lights Conference cellar.

But thanks to better turnout and the luxury of more year-round soccer players on the Houston roster, Rice feels the Hawks are making the transition toward more success on the soccer pitch. That’s what makes losses like the 3-1 defeat Houston suffered on Friday more difficult.

“It’s disappointing,” Rice said after the loss to the Homer Mariners. “We could have had the game.”

Rice admitted Houston was missing a few key players for various reasons. A few athletes sat out for stretches during the game due to disciplinary reasons. But on a positive note, Rice was happy the Houston coaching staff can now make such moves as the staff works to build the team mentality.

“We have 20 players instead of the traditional 15,” Rice said. “This is a great thing for us.”

Houston entered the Homer game with a 1-1-0 mark. The Hawks beat Lumen Christi 2-1 before falling to Colony 9-0.

“It’s great we got the win over Lumen Christi under our belt,” Rice said. “We’re using the game with Colony as an education.”

Patrick Schnieder and Aaron Lewis scored in the first half to give Homer the 2-0 lead.

Houston’s Jon Stinson scored midway through the second half to cut Homer’s lead to 2-1, but the Mariners’ Ben Daigle added a late insurance score for Homer.

Stinson bounced a shot off the left post to bring the Hawks within a goal in the second half.

The goal was created by a direct kick that was given to Houston midfielder Ryan Contreras. Rather than slamming a shot on net, Contreras quickly shifted the ball over to Stinson, who put the shot on net.

“They planned that themselves,” Rice said. “I’m quite proud of their smarts.”

Skyview 5, Houston 1

Ryan Contreras scored the lone goal for the Hawks Saturday as Houston dropped its second game of the weekend at Houston High.

“We just didn’t play well as a team today,” Houston coach Chad Rice said Saturday.

Rice said the Hawks were forced to play with a depleted lineup when two starters inexplicably failed to show up for the game.

With a third player out with illness, Houston was further burdened when yet another player was forced out of the game with a busted lip.

“We just didn’t have any power up front today.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.