JOHN DAY – Jake Waldner was a little bored last week.

Waldner, the keeper for the Grant Union soccer team, didn’t see much action against Culver Thursday, Sept. 25. The Prospectors easily won the game 3-0 and the Bulldogs didn’t threaten often. Culver’s offense only managed three shots in the entire game and of those only one came on goal.

“Jake played, but he didn’t have to do much,” Grant Union coach Ken Purnell said. “He did what was needed. He came out and cleared the ball for us

at times.”

Grant Union, on the other hand, opened a veritable shooting gallery on the Culver defense. They shot the ball 33 times and threatened the goal 18 of those times.

Kieron Callahan had the first goal for Grant Union in the 23rd minute of the game. Callahan received the ball when a throw-in from Daniel Soupir was flicked to him from Henrik Shia. The Pros have scored four goals on throw-ins this season.

Daniel Frazier put the ball in the net with help from Callahan to give Grant Union a 2-0 going into halftime. Shia took the ball in for the final Prospector goal of the game a little more than 10 minutes into the second half.

The Pros continued to outshoot their opponents in the last two games, but have been unable to find the same success at the net they did earlier in the season. They outscored opponents 27-5 in their first three 3A Special District 5 games. Since then the deficit has decreased to 5-1.

“We need to start putting goals in the net,” Purnell said. “We outshoot someone 10 to one and finish 3-0. We need to do a better job against Riverside.”

Grant Union will face their toughest challenge of the season this weekend. The Pros travel to Riverside for a 3 p.m. game Saturday, Oct. 4. Riverside is currently ranked fifth in the state. Grant Union recently cracked into the rankings and are now ranked 10th in the state.

Purnell said he believes his defense will be a deciding factor in the game.

“We have great outside speed in the back with Parker (Burton) and David (Sprouffske),” Purnell said. “Phillip (Stevens) plays in the back and has an uncanny way of getting the ball on a slide tackle even if he gets a half step behind. We’ve been using Daniel (Soupir) up a little on defense to help feed our midfielders, and he can always get back as well. It’ll all be important this week.”