CRESWELL — Under what felt like a monsoon, the No. 6-seeded Creswell Bulldogs boys soccer team dominated No. 13-seeded Valley Catholic Valiants 3-1 in the Class 1A/2A/3A second-round playoff match Wednesday night, advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time in a decade.
“Last two years we went out in the second round, and that was not happening this year,” said head coach Brandi Wittenborn. “We managed to keep our cool tonight…rain or shine, long haul, whatever came our way. They had it in their mind from the beginning.”
Spectators and the players walked onto an initially dry Markley Field for the national anthem and player recognition. Upon the sound of the whistle, the rain started to trickle in and eventually engulfed the game into a relentless downpour that lasted until the last 20 minutes.
But not even the downpour could extinguish the Bulldogs’ flame, as they came out with an aggressive offensive attack in the first half. Shots on goal ensued, and eventually Matthew Jenkins etched in the first goal of the evening midway through the half. After the Bulldogs cleared the ball from their own box, Jenkins capitalized on his speed, dribbled up the field, and scored on a low shot.
Less than 10 minutes later, he struck again — this time finishing off a cross to give the Bulldogs a comfortable 2-0 lead.
Wittenborn said when it comes to their key offensive players she trusts the Bulldogs to make the right calls on how to use them.
“We’re using them,” she said. “It’s like when we played South Umpqua, Braidyn was open. He scored two goals for us wide open. So I think that’s the biggest thing.”
Brady Pratt was the cherry on top, when just five minutes before halftime, he took a free kick from the Valiants handball and the ball curved into the net — uplifting the Bulldogs to a 3-0 score.
The Valiants had their own last-minute drive when they scored from the Bulldogs’ box five minutes before the game ended.
Wittenborn said it was due to a miscommunication.
“It was definitely some miscommunication,” she said. “Mostly over who’s covering who, and we should have stepped to — we just missed that.”
The Bulldogs tallied 16 shots on goal and freshman Diego Bocanegra recorded nine saves.
Despite the Bulldogs dominance, Wittenborn said that in the Class 1A/2A/3A state playoffs, there are many teams that could upset the Bulldogs. She hopes to keep them in shape by continuing to focus on their areas of improvements
“I think sometimes for us, we just need to make a couple more of those quick adjustments,” Wittenborn said. “Whether defensively or seeing that open person more faster. Also, finishing those shots that we should be putting in the back of the net, for some reason, we just can’t get them to go in at times.”
Wittenborn is eager to take both Creswell teams to the quarterfinals — with the boys’ appearance being long overdue and the girls making their first trip since 2023, there’s a lot to be excited about.
However, Creswell fans may be a little concerned about the whiplash Wittenborn faces coaching both teams, especially since the boys and girls quarterfinals fall on the same day: Saturday, Nov. 8.
New athletic director Kyle Kordon said he hopes to schedule the boys after the girls’ noon home game against the No. 6 Umatilla Vikings, allowing her to coach both matches on the same day.
Balancing the two teams may be a juggling act for the esteemed coach in her last year, but she and the Bulldogs are excited about what’s to come.
“I think we’re just taking it game by game,” she said. “We have nine seniors, and I think they’re just trying to take in every moment, play their heart out, and then obviously want to go as deep as we possibly can. And if that’s to the championship game, that would be awesome.”
