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St. Mary’s run ends in state semifinals By Danny Penza Updated: Nov 08, 2022 07:31 PM A A Crusaders battle tough but fall to Class 3A/2A/1A top-ranked Oregon Episcopal St. Mary’s found out first-hand what the top seed in the Class 3A/2A/1A boys soccer state playoffs was all about Tuesday evening. Behind a four-goal game from junior Julian Ettinger, No. 1 Oregon Episcopal ended St. Mary’s postseason run in the state semifinals with a 5-1 win over the fifth-seeded Crusaders in Portland. Ettinger has scored six goals in the Aardvarks’ last two playoff victories. “We really started the first half good,” said St. Mary’s head coach Eisa Tiaatoto. “(Ettinger) is very skilled with a lot of speed and their whole team is a very good team. They ran us into the ground and we just couldn’t compete with them because we didn’t have a bench and that affected us when we got tired.” OES (15-1) will take a 10-game winning streak into Saturday’s title game at Liberty High School in Hillsboro against seventh-seeded McLoughlin, which followed up its upset of 3A/2A/1A power and second-seeded Catlin Gabel this past weekend with a 4-0 win over No. 3 Riverdale in Tuesday’s other semifinal. The Aardvarks will play in their first state title game since 2019. St. Mary’s — which entered Tuesday on a 14-game winning streak after losing its season opener to Catlin Gabel — finished the year 14-2. “We created so many chances for us to score more than one goal but our habit is to keep the ball for too long,” said Tiaatoto. “They will come after you and that’s what they did — they want the ball. We tried to wait and create and keep moving it and they’re just running after you. I told my kids, ‘Hey, that’s the game, that’s their game plan.’ We kept up with them in the first half but in the second half we ran out of gas.” The Crusaders and Aardvarks were facing one another for the first time since the 2019 state title game, one that OES won 2-0 in Hillsboro. It proved to be that same scoreline in favor of the Aardvarks after the opening 40 minutes. Oregon Episcopal saw much more of the ball in the first half, with St. Mary’s best chances coming on the counterattack after an Aardvarks turnover. The Aardvarks took the lead in the 11th minute when Ettinger slipped a shot past Crusaders keeper Davis Jones. St. Mary’s first chance came midway through the first half thanks to some nice footwork by freshman Jose Mondesi, whose cross into the box found Leandro Cronk. The Crusaders, however, couldn’t get a shot away before the ball was cleared. The pressure from OES never wavered during the course of the first half. And right before halftime, the Aardvarks took advantage again. Ettinger doubled his team’s lead with a minute to go before halftime, taking a pass from Shay Doshi on the right wing and firing a shot home past Jones at the far post. Four minutes into the second half, Ettinger was at it again, taking a cross from Barrett Lindholm and heading it home for the hat trick. Ettinger made it four with arguably his best goal of the day, with a leaping volley with his right foot off a cross from the left wing with 15 minutes to go. “We just couldn’t keep up with them,” said Tiaatoto. “They’re very good and they make beautiful passes and beautiful crosses.” Cronk got the Crusaders on the board in the 72nd minute off a nice combination play with Konrad Aretz before bending a right-footed shot in at the far post. It was just the 11th goal Oregon Episcopal had allowed this season. Oregon Episcopal’s Ryder Sendecke scored with a minute to go. Jones finished with 11 saves for the Crusaders, who entered the day having allowed just nine goals in 15 games this season. “Bless his heart,” said Tiaatoto of Jones, a sophomore. “He’s a fighter. He’s a good kid, good soccer player.” Reach reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @penzatopaper.