Jesuit overcomes numerous obstacles to win Oregon 6A boys soccer title: 'Nothing could stop us'

Crusaders erase late two-goal deficit, outlast McMinnville in shootout for program's 17th championship

Jesuit defeated McMinnville for the 17th Oregon boys soccer state title in program history. / Photo by Rene Ferran

Two goals down.

A man down.

Players going down with cramps all over the Hillsboro Stadium field or collapsing from the cold and exhaustion — one eventually requiring ambulance transport to the hospital after the game.

With so much going against the Jesuit boys soccer team with 12 minutes left in Saturday night’s OSAA Class 6A state championship match against McMinnville, even seventh-year coach Geoff Skipper acknowledged some doubt creeping into his mind.

So, how did the Crusaders turn things around? How did they go from 2-0 down to forcing overtime, then pulling out a 3-2 shootout victory to earn the program’s 17th title?

Skipper pointed to a halftime speech given by senior midfielder Grant Sasaki, the player who laid so much on the line that he couldn’t join in the postgame celebration as he received medical attention.

“He stepped up and gave a great speech. It gave me goosebumps,” Skipper said. “And they responded. It’s just unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I’ve been coaching a long time in club and at other high schools, and that is the guttiest performance I’ve ever seen from a group in my career.”

Diego Nieves, Vala Saghafi, Dominic Bolouri and Luca Schmidt converted from the penalty spot, and when McMinnville’s final effort pinged off the right post and away, the line of Jesuit players at midfield for the shootout erupted.

“Everybody’s cramping, but we helped one another. That’s how we build character,” Nieves said. “It was all about trust. We trusted one another, trusted every player that we can do it. It was a challenge, but nothing could stop us.”

Saghafi, a sophomore striker whose tying goal in the final minute sent the game to overtime, chalked up the comeback to “how passionate we are, the passion we have in the brotherhood. 

“I mean, we really are a young team. We have four sophomores on the team. It’s just amazing, and I’m really proud of this team.”

The Crusaders (16-2-1) graduated 12 seniors from last year’s team that lost in overtime to Lakeridge in the final, but one of the few returning players who received significant action last season was Nieves, a senior who also played for the 2022 title-winners on this same field.

“This is where we won state my sophomore year,” he said. “Coming back here, it just felt like we were going to win again. This stadium has a lot of memories for us.”

And yet, for 68 minutes, the Crusaders were frustrated by a feisty Grizzlies team playing in its first championship match since 2016 and seeking the second title in program history.

Edwin Cuevas-George, who’d been the man for McMinnville (15-3-1) all season — the sophomore midfielder entered with a team-high 27 goals as the Pacific Conference player of the year — played facilitator twice as the Grizzlies led 2-0 at halftime.

In the fourth minute, he touched a free kick to his brother, Abraham, who rocketed a 25-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar that deflected just past the goal line.

Saghafi had a golden chance to equalize in the 16th minute, with his tight-angle shot looking destined to slot inside the left post before Nicholas Lozano cleared it inches off the line.

Just before halftime, Grizzlies keeper Hipolito Ramirez Monje’s long punt started a counterattack, with Cuevas-George shrugging off a tackle and hitting Sebastian Lopez in stride just inside the penalty area, and Lopez tucked his shot inside the right post.

The situation became bleaker for the Crusaders nine minutes after halftime, when Carlos Botive Garcia received a second caution and was sent off.

But Bolouri gave Jesuit a lifeline back into the game by gathering in Cooper Cardwell’s cross just off the right corner of the 6-yard area and slipping his shot past Ramirez Monje with 11:53 remaining.

“Unfortunately, we were trying to see the game out, and we lost a little bit of our aggressiveness,” Grizzlies coach Adam Howard said. “Give Jesuit a lot of credit. They hung in there, and you wouldn’t have known they were down a player with the effort they were putting out on the field.

“It was just one of those things where we got a little back on our heels, and we had a hard time getting out.”

With 1:03 to play, the Crusaders were awarded an indirect free kick about 22 yards from goal. Bolouri tapped the ball to Saghafi, a La Salle Prep transfer who won Metro League player of the year honors.

Saghafi blasted the ball in the top-left corner as the clock ticked under 1 minute for his 30th goal of the season.

“That was the game-changer,” Nieves said. “That’s what motivated everybody. And look at us now. State champions.”

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