– Paul Freelend

– The Observer

Hermiston and a creeping sickness conspired to leave

La Grande feeling ill both inside and out.

The Tiger boys soccer team lost 5-0 at home to Hermiston Tuesday, with three of the goals coming on long-range shots by the Bulldogs.

Hermiston head coach Tim McCreary said his team has not shown that kind of accuracy before.

"We had some good shots from our midfielders," McCreary said. "[Luis Ortiz] just outhustled them. We were a little quicker to the ball, and had better possession. We haven’t had that kind of outside shooting before, so that was good to see."

La Grande came into the match shorthanded, missing four players through sickness and having a further six who played while ill. Junior forward Dylan Wolff started up top in his first game back from an injury layoff, while Richie Carmichael deputized in goal for Jared Frasier.

An inability to clear the ball properly led to the first Hermiston goal. Luis Ortiz charged down an attempted clearance, winning the ball and converting a close-range chance.

Long-range tallies from Frankie Garcia and Noe Garcia followed in quick succession just before halftime. Ortiz added his second goal of the game after the break, running onto a long clearance out of the Bulldog defense half and scoring, before Beto Garcia hit a 40-yard effort into the top corner to round out the scoring.

Carmichael recorded 16 saves in the match, some of the spectacular variety.

La Grande head coach Zachary Lauritzen said the Tigers were not able to take advantage of the chances they did generate.

"We didn’t exploit Hermiston’s weakness in the backside of their defense," Lauritzen said. "When we did, we had terrible mistouches. They just stopped those chances dead in their tracks."

The Tigers dropped to 4-4-1 with the defeat, while Hermiston improved to 4-3. The win gave the Bulldogs a season sweep over La Grande, having previously recorded a 3-0 win at home on Sept. 16.

La Grande will host 2005 Greater Oregon League

champion McLoughlin High Thursday at 2 p.m.

At La Grande

Hermiston 3 25

La Grande 0 00

First Half

H – Luis Ortiz

H – Frankie Garcia

H – Noe Garcia

Second Half

H – Ortiz (Beto Garcia)

H – B. Garcia