Pioneers' offense too much for Tigers

FINAL STRETCH: With the regular season ending Thursday, the Tigers are preparing for a home playoff game Nov. 8. Observer file photo

The Pioneers, who have had the Tigers number all season long, dominated from the opening whistle.

“Mac-Hi is a great team,” La Grande head coach Dan Mielke said. “We gave them a few breaks and they took advantage. They are too good of a team to do that to.”

Meanwhile, the LHS offense was non-existent as there were only a few scoring opportunities throughout the game.

With just a couple of minutes left in the game, Mac-Hi sealed the win with one more goal.

“I thought we played well defensively for the most part,” Mielke said. “We just got in a hole there in the first half.”

Before the game La Grande honored its five seniors Zane Smith, Bradley Thomson, Tanner Christiansen, Jon Mattes and Tanner Green.

Despite the loss, the Tigers remain in second place in the district and will finish the regular season Thursday at Baker.

The way things stand now, La Grande would host a playoff game Nov. 8. If that holds up the game would start at 1 p.m.

Tigers girls clip Mac-Hi 1-0

There is still a chance at the postseason for the La Grande girls soccer team. The Tigers won an inter-league match 1-0 against Mac-Hi Tuesday despite cold and wet weather.

After playing the first half scoreless, the Tigers came out in the second half and played like a team that isn’t ready for their season to end.

Halfway through the second half, Esa Grigsby found the back of the net off a rebound and put the Tigers up 1-0.

Mac-Hi pressed the pace the rest of the game trying to make up that one goal, but stingy defense and some great goalie play from Shelby Miller helped La Grande hang on for a big win against the league’s top team.

“This was a total team effort,” La Grande head coach Elena Nightingale said. “The kids always go out there and give it their all and today was no exception.”

La Grande sits in third place in district at the moment, but there are a number of scenarios that could play out between now and the end of the season.

The Tigers play Baker Thursday in the final game of the season, if La Grande wins that and Mac-Hi beats Ontario then the Tigers would make the playoffs.

At least that’s how it looks now. “It’s really complicated,” Nightingale said. “All I know is that we have to take care of our business and hopefully it all works out.”