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John L. Braese
LA GRANDE – The La Grande girls soccer team slept in today after a late night 1-0 win over North Marion on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in the semifinals of the 4A state tournament. The Tigers will return to the practice field later today, preparing to meet top seeded Marist Catholic for the state title on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. The battle for the trophy kicks off at 6 p.m.
The trip to Hillsboro came only after a double overtime victory by the Tigers. Tied after regulation with zeroes showing on the scoreboard, La Grande and North Marion remained scoreless after the first period of overtime.
Rowan Evans finally placed the lone goal on the board four minutes into the second overtime period, the 94th minute of the two teams battling.
“We had building up to the goal for some time,” said La Grande coach Chris Gianandrea. “We had some goals in the box but just were a step behind the pass. Just two minutes before the goal, I thought we had a score but we were just a little late in getting to the ball. Our back line defense was outstanding and kept North Marion from good shots all night.”
On the one that counted, the ball rolled up on the keeper with Evans there this time to follow up on the ball and push the Tigers to the championship game.
Gianandrea said the crowd faithful was with the team the whole night.
“The energy was so loud there were times I was yelling out directions to the team and they could not hear me,” he said. “It was great how the fans were so into the game. I think our athleticism and conditioning really started to show in the second half and in the overtime periods.”
In his second year of coaching the Tigers, Gianandrea and La Grande advance to the state championship match for only the second time in the school’s history. In 2013, Sam Brown, also in his second year of coaching at La Grande, guided the Tigers to a second-place finish after falling to Scappose in a 3-1 game.
Facing the top seed Marist Catholic team, Gianandrea sees similarities between the number one and two teams.
“They play very much like us with good passing and looking for the good shot,” he said.
In addition to the win for the team, the overtime victory marked a milestone for the La Grande coach as well. Both on the field previously as a player and as a current coach on the sidelines, the North Marion game marked the first time Gianandrea saw a victory after playing after regulation.
“It was the first time for the team we played overtime this season,” he said. “As a player at Eastern, we lost every time we played into overtime.”
