For the third time in six years, the boys varsity soccer team has won the 5A state championship.
Before the game, “everyone was nervous,” senior Vance Sheffield said. “But nervous is a good thing. You gotta fight through it and play for the person next to you.”
Facing off against Summit High School on Saturday, Nov. 16, The Falcons kicked off at 10:30 a.m. at Hillsboro Stadium. With 14 minutes to go in the first half, Summit scored a goal off a header, making the score 1-0 at the half.
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Senior Conor Garvey prepares to slide tackle an opposing player as he dribbles down the pitch.
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La Salle students traveled to Hillsboro and watched the game, sporting their school colors.
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A group of La Salle starters take the field after their huddle while they trail 1-0 at the beginning of the second half.
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Junior Declan O’Brien goes up for a header, to clear the ball out of the Falcons’ penalty box.
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At halftime, senior Conor Garvey said varsity assistant coach David Leslie got the boys fired up. “It wasn’t like we were getting beat — we knew we were going to come back,” Garvey said.
14 minutes into the second half, senior Vance Sheffiled drew a foul in Summit’s box, giving La Salle a chance to score off a penalty kick. Senior Conor Garvey took the kick, burying it in the bottom-left corner of the goal and tying the game at one.
With the score still tied in the 79th minute of the match, Sheffield got fouled once more in the box, drawing another penalty kick. Garvey once again buried it, this time in the middle, and the Falcons won the match with a final score of 2-1 against the reigning champions.
“We knew we were the better team, and that’s what pushed us through,” said junior Cooper Eldon. “It’s about building each other up and always having their back.”
After losing one game and tying another in the beginning of the season during their trip to Las Vegas, the boys soccer team turned it around. They started by beating last year’s 6A state champions Lakeridge High School 3-0 during their first home game of the season, and they continued on to lose only four games in the rest of the season. They won the Northwest Oregon Conference and have now been crowned as the 5A state champions.
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From left to righ, juniors River Nichols, Cooper Eldon, and Declan O’Brien pose with the 5A state championship trophy surrounded by their teammates.
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Team members celebrate senior Conor Garvey after he slotted away the penalty kick that ultimately won the game.
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Senior Rylan De Souza and junior River Nichols celebrate with the student section after the final whistle.
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Senior Conor Garvey watches as junior River Nichols points at the stars representing the amount of state titles they have won on their jersey, pointing to where the next star will be.
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For this game, being down a goal at the half was the biggest setback the team had to overcome, but head coach Monty Hawkins had faith. “We’re not going out like this,” he said, recalling his thoughts going into halftime. “They’re not letting this get away.”
Eldon remembered last year’s semifinal game, when the boys lost to Summit after their goalkeeper got food poisoning.
“We’re doing this for the seniors last year that didn’t have the chance to experience this,” Eldon said.
That game and those seniors were a key motivator for the team to get the win this year. “That left a horrible taste in our mouths,” Garvey said. “We knew we were gonna get them back.”
With a record of 12-5-1 before the state final, winning the championship game, especially against Summit, was the best ending they could have hoped for.
“It was everything,” Hawkins said.
![“Modbury High School does this trip [and] it’s the only one in Australia that does a whole USA trip,” recently graduated senior from Modbury High School Alexander Walsh said.](https://lasallefalconer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/115A6768-1200x800.jpg)
