Mac boys on to state finals

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##Junior forward Jose “Joey” Farias runs toward the Wortman Stadium fans in celebration after scoring what would be the winning goal in Tuesday night’s semifinal matchup against Grant. Farias’ teammates rushed to the sidelines to cheer with him and the home crowd, including Edwin Cuevas-George, right, who took the free kick that bounced off the Grant goalkeeper and led to the goal.

The McMinnville Grizzlies boys soccer team gutted out a 2-1 victory over Grant Tuesday night in front of a raucous home crowd to earn a trip to the OSAA 6A State Championship game.

The No. 4 ranked Grizzlies (15-2-1) will face No. 3 ranked Jesuit (15-2-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, at Hillsboro Stadium. The game will also be streamed on the NFHS Network (see osaa.org/media for links).

Grant entered Wortman Stadium as the No. 8 seed, having dispatched No. 1 seed Lakeridge on Saturday.

Junior forward Jose “Joey” Farias accounted for both Grizzly goals. Ten minutes into the game, Edwin Cuevas-George headed forward a goal kick that was collected by Farias who, surrounded by three Grant defenders, took two touches and drove it into the bottom right corner of the net.

Grant threatened often the rest of the half, and got an equalizer with about five minutes before the break.

Midway through the second half, Farias earned a free kick at the top of the Grant penalty box. Cuevas-George drove a shot on goal that ricocheted off Grant goalkeeper Noah Hardwood and Farias beat him to the ball, knocking it in for the go-ahead, and ultimately deciding, goal.

This will be the third trip to the state championship game in program history. The Mac boys beat Jesuit in 2006 to win the title, and lost to Lakeridge in 2016. Both games were decided by penalty kicks.

See Friday’s sports section for a full game recap and preview of the state title game.