The Milwaukie Mustang Boys Soccer team (2-3-1 league) plays at Wilsonville (1-5 league) on Tuesday night in both teams’ final regular season game in Northwest Conference play. Playoffs begin on Saturday, October 28th, and Tuesday’s game will determine where the Mustangs will play their “play-in” game that day.

The Mustangs are currently 5th place in the 5A Northwest Conference, ranked #17 overall in OSAA polls. A win Tuesday likely means they will travel to Summit to play their Saturday game. There is also a possibility they could play host in Saturday’s play-in game to the Dalles. A lot depends on how their fellow Northwest Conference and neighborhood rival Putnam (4th place NWC) fares on Tuesday, when they play at Sandy (6th place NWC) in those teams’ final regular season game.

Mustangs Head Coach Allen Sitz, when asked about his team this season, says “We have talent in spades, and as long as we can show some discipline defensively I think we have what it takes to beat anyone.” Leading the team on defense are Evan McClelland and Hunter Shelley, who both earned all-league accolades last year.

In the attack the Mustangs have the Duran brothers Juan and Bryan, who are both very gifted on the ball and have great vision and creativity. Together they lead the team in assists. They are joined in the attack by Antonio Cuevas- aka lighting in a bottle- the top returning goal scorer for Milwaukie who is leading team in goals scored in 2017. Sitz describes Cuevas as “a very clinical finisher”.

Holding it all together is senior Juan Gudino, who has been 1st and 2nd Team All-NWOC the last two years. “He can play every position and is an absolute handful for our opponents to handle”, Sitz adds.

“This team has the potential to take it all the way to the finals if they consistently play anywhere near as well as they are capable” says Sitz.

The Mustangs game Tuesday is at 7pm at Wilsonville High School.