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IVHS soccer teams have solid week

John Michaels
IVN Contributing Writer

Boys Soccer
The Illinois Valley High School soccer team registered a pair of District 5 wins with a 3-0 shut-out win over Rogue Valley Adventist Academy Tuesday before traveling to Rogue River and blanking the Chieftains 2-0 Thursday.
Senior Servando Vargas started things off for the Cougars against Rogue Valley Adventist, scoring a goal early in the first half off an assist from freshman Ever Ponder. Sophomore Mason Richardson found the back of the net just a short while later, again with an assist from Ponder. Freshman River Lahey scored the final goal for the Cougars, with a third assist from Ponder.
After giving up three early goals, the Hawks changed their defensive strategy and did not allow I.V. another goal. Although the Cougars still got shots on goal, outshooting Rogue Valley 29-7 during the game, Rogue Valley Adventist was able to keep IV from scoring again.
The I.V. squared their conference record with a 2-0 win at Rogue River Thursday. Josh Wood put the Cougars up early with a goal in the first half off an assist from Shiloh Farnsworth. The two teams battled back and forth for the rest of the half, and although IV controlled the ball and was played most of the half on the Chieftains’ side of the field, neither team scored and at the break the Cougars led 1-0.
Servando Vargas scored his ninth goal of the season off a free kick in the second half, putting the Cougars up 2-0. Senior goalkeeper Tim Wood posted both shut-outs for I.V. Although he was never truly threatened against Rogue Valley Adventist, Wood made several nice saves against Rogue River, especially late in the game when the desperate Chieftains pushed forward trying to get back in the game.
The Cougars are 4-4 on the year, with a 2-2 league mark. Illinois Valley hosted Brookings Harbor in a league match Monday and will travel to Lithia Field in Medford to take on the St. Mary’s in another league face-off Thursday. I.V. will then play host to Rogue River in a non-league match Saturday at 1 p.m.
Girls Soccer
The Lady Cougars’ soccer team had a pretty good week, tying Coquille/Myrtle Point 5-5 at home Tuesday, before going to Winston and dominating Douglas 7-2 Thursday. The Lady Cougars are now 2-5-1 on the year, with every match being a league contest so far.
Senior Achiraya Junwiang had an especially impressive week. Junwiang scored a hat trick with three goals in the tie against the Red Devils, only to top it with four goals in the win over the Trojans. Senior Jessame Pope tallied a hat trick for the week with a pair of goals in the Coquille match and another goal against Douglas. Sophomore Correna Ybarra and freshman Natalie Praytor also scored goals in the win over Douglas.

The I.V. hosted Glide on Tuesday in its only game this week. The Cougars will travel to Lakeview to take on the Honkers next Tuesday. Both contests will be league matches.
Cross Country
In cross-country, the Cougars participated in the Stan Goodell Invite, hosted by Hidden Valley High School Saturday. Senior Curtiss Heier finished third in the Goodell Invite, which saw seven full teams and over 60 runners compete over a 5,000-meter race which draws harriers from all levels. Heier completed the course in 18:20.13. The race was won by Peter Moline of host 4A Hidden Valley, and the other participant to finish ahead of Heier was Garrett Fought from 5A Crater. Taylor Heier also put in a respectable showing at the meet, taking the final spot in the Top 20 with a time of 20:49.79
The Cougars’ Naomi Merrill also participated in the race for the Illinois Valley women’s cross-country team. Merrill finished with a respectable Top 35 finish. Merrill was 32nd among the female runners, completing the course in 27:36.28.
Volleyball
The Lady Cougars’ volleyball team had a tough week in Sunset Conference play, losing at Gold Beach in straight sets on Tuesday before hosting Bandon on Thursday and losing in four sets.
The Panthers played the part of rude hosts on Tuesday taking three straight from I.V., winning 25-13, 25-4, 25-18. Thursday’s match was not much better as the Cougars were able to squeak out a second set win in a 25-11, 22-25, 25-20, 25-19 loss to the Tigers.
Although the losses dropped I.V. to 2-10 on the year and 0-5 in Sunset Conference play, it must be noted that the Cougars are an incredibly young squad, with just one junior and one senior on the team.
The Cougars traveled to Myrtle Point Tuesday for another Sunset Conference match. Illinois Valley returns home to face Oakland in a league match Thursday at 6 p.m.