MILTON-FREEWATER — The McLoughlin boys soccer team hasn’t played too many state playoff games at home, but when they do, the outcome is good.

The Pioneers got two goals from Angel Castillo on Wednesday, Nov. 3, to hand Cottage Grove a 2-0 loss in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.

“I think the kids were nervous, to be honest,” Pioneers coach Jose Garcia said. “We haven’t hosted a state game in a while. We had quite a big crowd, it was great to see that.”

The last time Mac-Hi hosted a playoff game was 2017. The Pioneers beat Mazama in the first round, then beat Cottage Grove in the quarterfinals. They played at Stayton in the semifinals, where they lost in overtime.

The Pioneers (11-2-1) will play at Philomath on Saturday in the quarterfinals. The Warriors beat Estacada 5-0 to advance.

Mac-Hi and Cottage Grove were scoreless in the first half, but not for lack of trying.

“It was weird,” Garcia said of the first 40 minutes of the game. “We missed three or four really good chances. Gio (Sandoval) clearly missed a couple of times. There were good looks and that shouldn’t happen, but they are young and they will make mistakes.”

Castillo scored on a penalty kick in the second half, then dribbled through several players before blasting the ball into the net.

“They did pretty good keeping us busy and moving the ball,” Garcia said of the Lions. “They had three guys in the midfield who were pretty good. Big and athletic. The kids made a comment before the game. They said ‘they are pretty big.’ I said, ‘you aren’t going to carry them.’ The kids ended up pretty tired. They left it all on the field.”

Sandoval, who is just a freshman, had a couple more scoring chances in the second half, but again came up short.

“It wasn’t his day today,” Garcia said. “He would have had four goals today. I think he was nervous. Next year, he will be more mature in his decision making. It’s a learning process.”

Freshman goalkeeper Danny Gonzalez finished with six saves for the Pioneers, who have nine shutouts this season.

“They fought hard and never gave up,” Garcia said. “Cottage Grove has always had good players and teams.”

RIVERSIDE 8, SUTHERLIN 0 — After missing six weeks with an ankle injury, Erick Zavala got back into the rhythm of things Wednesday, scoring three goals to lead the Pirates to a victory over the Bulldogs in the first round of the 3A/2A/1A state playoffs. It was his first career hat trick.

Riverside (14-1), which is on a 10-game win streak, will host Pleasant Hill on Saturday. The Billies beat Western Christian 4-0 to advance.

Against Sutherlin, the Pirates led 4-0 at the half, but coach Jose Duenas knew his team was in charge 5 minutes into the game.

“We actually scored in the first minute,” Duenas said. “In the first 5 minutes, I thought, ‘we got this.’ It was 2-0 pretty quick. Our speed and strength outpowered them. We are just rolling with the ball right now and have a good rhythm. We have that can’t lose at home mentality.”

Also scoring goals for the Pirates were Efrain Lopez, Pablo Claustro, Darek Castaneda, Diego Magana and Osvaldo Martinez, who all had one goal each.

While the Pirates put plenty of shots on goal, the Bulldogs had just one shot on goal. Riverside goalkeepers Juan Medina and Will Killion shared time, recording the ninth shutout this year for the Pirates.

“We had over 50 shots,” Duenas said. “We hit the post like 10 times.”

Men’s college soccer

EVERETT 5, BLUE MOUNTAIN 4 — The Timberwolves blew leads of 2-0, 3-1 and 4-3 as the visiting Trojans rallied for a 5-4 victory in the NWAC playoffs.

Sergio Varela and Oscar Arguello scored goals in the first 16 minutes of the game to give BMCC a 2-0 lead.

Mateus de Mendonca scored at 17:49 to put Everett on the board, only to see Coleman Solano score 33 seconds later to give the Timberwolves a 3-1 lead.

Everett would add a goal late in the first half for a 3-2 score at the half.

Less than one minute into the second half, Everett’s Axel Rochel tied the score at 3-3.

Omar Benites scored to take back the lead for BMCC in the 47th minute, but the Trojans would get two goals from Juan Castillo down the stretch to pick up the win.

BMCC goalkeeper Levi Pedaggi finished the game with seven saves.

The Timberwolves finished the season 7-5-1.