ONTARIO – After playing a pair of games on the road, Ontario High School soccer is in full swing.
The Ontario High School boys soccer team played two games on the road, Phoenix on Friday, Aug. 30 and Henley, on Saturday, Aug. 31 The Tigers fell to Henley 3-0 and tied Phoenix 1-1.
Ontario returns 7 players from last season and a host of new faces, some of whom played on the junior varsity team and a few freshmen.
The returning players include Nikolaz Ramirez, Kyler Ramos, Hayden David, Jaydyn Garcia, Ryker Brent, Esmael Becerril and Bryan Alejandro.
While the Tigers put up a winning 8-5 record last season, coach Daniel Dominguez said the Tigers lost more games than he anticipated.
In 2022, Ontario made history when it won the school’s first state soccer title. The squad finished its championship season with a 6-0 league record.
This season, Dominguez said the chemistry of the team is good.
“They’re ready to play, he said. “They’re ready to showcase their skills.”
So far, he said, the team on the field is relatively unknown, given that half of the roster is new varsity players.
“As games go by,” he said, “we’ll find out what we’re bringing to the to the league.”
The 4A Greater Oregon League, with three other teams, is competitive. League action starts in about a month.
The coach said the Tigers’ first five non-league games will reveal much about his team and what they will need to work. Ontario faces Crook County, Cottage Grove and defending 3A champions McLoughlin High School, are among the best in the state.
These games are going to “huge” for his team, according to Dominguez.
League play kicks off Tuesday, Sept. 24, when the team hosts La Grande.
News tip? Contact reporter Steven Mitchell at [email protected].
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE – The Malheur Enterprise delivers quality local journalism – fair and accurate. You can read it any hour, any day, with a digital subscription. Read it on your phone, your Tablet, your home computer. Click subscribe – $7.50 a month.