One of the oldest themes in fiction is the inevitability of fate.
Stories as ancient as “Oedipus Rex” and as recent as “Kung Fu Panda” contain the same message to varying extents: You can’t escape your destiny, so you might as well embrace it.
That was part of the reason Henley (14-2-2) head coach Lupe Gonzales was happy that the No. 4 seed Hornets got to face No. 2 seed North Marion (15-3-0) in the 4A championship game at Liberty High School Saturday. The teams met in last year’s 4A quarterfinals, and the No. 9 seed Huskies stunned top-seeded Henley by erasing a 2-0 deficit in the second half and winning a penalty shootout 6-5. It was only the second loss of the season for the Hornets.
“We felt if we [were] truly destined to win this [championship]…then it [was] going to have to be over somebody that has put us out previously, somebody that would give us an opportunity for redemption,” Gonzales said.
Ultimately, Henley didn’t just redeem itself–it completely flipped the script on North Marion, overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the second half and winning a penalty kick shootout 2-1.
Gonzales had initially invoked destiny to the Hornets before their semifinal game at No. 1 seed Stayton, which was undefeated and had outscored its opponents 77-5 this season before Henley handed it a 2-1 loss.
“I feel like we’re destined for this game because everything’s against us…I think we’re destined to shock,” Gonzales said to his players. “I’m going to say something even further: The winner of this game is going to win the state championship.”
After the Hornets pulled off the upset, Gonzales backtracked a bit.
“Okay, disregard what I said,” Gonzales told the team. “I need you guys to focus on one more game. We gave ourselves the opportunity to win the state championship like we talked about, but now we have to do it.”
Henley had most of the scoring chances in the first half, but North Marion converted on its only shot on target. Sophomore Johnny Ramos-Reyes put the Huskies up 1-0 in the 22nd minute after receiving a cross in the penalty area from classmate Damien Vallejo Lopez on the right side.
At halftime, Gonzales tried to keep the team’s spirits up, reminding them that they hadn’t been shut out all season and assuring them that they would score. But in the 62nd minute, the Hornets couldn’t win possession when North Marion sent a free kick into the box from 30 yards out. The ball came to Vallejo Lopez, whose shot was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Ivan Garcia but ricocheted off a Henley defender and into the net.
Down 2-0, the Hornets players looked at each other for a moment. Then, sophomore Luke Balzotti ran over to retrieve the ball and rushed it back to the center circle to restart play. The individual response set the tone for the rest of the team.
“That’s kind of when we realized, ‘Okay, we’re going to get this,’” Gonzales said.
51 seconds later, a rebound on a shot by junior Layne Worrell found its way to senior Jesus Flores, who snuck the ball over the line for a goal after what Gonzales called “a mad scramble.”
“Fortunately, the sideline ref was right on the line to see it go in, which is unusual because when it’s so crowded in there, unless you’re in the right position, the only thing you’re going to be able to see is bodies,” Gonzales said.
After Flores’ goal–his third of the season–Henley made a tactical adjustment to increase pressure. The Huskies had pushed their back line closer to the goal in an effort to protect their lead, allowing the Hornets to move a defender into the midfield and a midfielder up to the forward line. Gonzales had observed how North Marion changed its defensive approach with a lead earlier this season, and that familiarity was another reason he was happy to face the Huskies.
“We knew exactly what we needed to do if we were behind,” Gonzales said.
The shift in formation helped Henley seize the momentum. In the 69th minute, Worrell, who had been marked for most of the game, got to a bouncing ball 30 yards from goal. He managed to gain about a foot of separation from his marker and unleashed a volley into the top right corner for his team-high 16th goal of the season.
“It was probably one of the most impressive shots that I’ve seen in a game, but the fact that he did it in the state championship game makes it that much more remarkable,” Gonzales said.
The Hornets continued to dominate possession for the rest of regulation and both overtime periods, allowing one shot in 40 minutes. With the score still tied at the end of the second overtime, the 4A championship game proceeded to a penalty shootout for the first time since 2021.
In the huddle before penalties, Gonzales imparted a message to Garcia, who made two saves in the shootout Henley lost to North Marion in 2023.
“Ivan, get us one save,” Gonzales said. “We will do the rest.”
“I got you, coach,” Garcia responded.
As it turned out, the Hornets needed more than one save from Garcia. But the goalkeeper was true to his word.
Henley took the first penalty kick, and Worrell buried it on the left side. The Huskies answered with a blast to the right side by senior Josue Lomeli Marin. That was when the misses began.
In the second round, a Hornets shot bounced off the crossbar, but Garcia saved a right side attempt to keep the shootout tied 1-1. Another miss from Henley, this time saved on the left side by freshman Jaiden Ortiz Paredes, necessitated another Garcia stop on the right side.
In the fourth round, sophomore Diego Ramirez’s attempt deflected off the legs of a diving Ortiz Paredes and into the top of the net to put Henley up 2-1. Garcia’s third consecutive save–this one on the left side–gave the Hornets a chance to win the title with a made penalty kick.
The shot was a line drive too close to the center on the right side, an easy stop for Ortiz Paredes. Garcia would need to make a fourth save, or the shootout would head to sudden death.
Garcia’s outstretched left hand stopped the ball on the right side, and the Hornets erupted.
“For him to guess four of the five [penalties], which way they were going…As a coach or a player, I’ve never seen a goalkeeper do something like that,” Gonzales said.
Garcia’s heroics earned him Henley player of the game honors. Vallejo Lopez was named North Marion player of the game.
Henley outshot North Marion 17-7, including 9-4 shots on target. The Hornets had two corner kicks, while the Huskies had none. Garcia made two saves in open play (both in the second half), and Ortiz Paredes made seven (three in each half and one in the second overtime period).
The weather in Hillsboro for the championship game was very similar to the weather in Stayton for Henley’s semifinal game: rainy and cold. Gonzales, who previously said his players were excited to play in the rain at Stayton, thought the conditions helped them against North Marion.
“It’s a mentality thing,” Gonzales said. “When it’s adverse conditions…we know that we have to change our style of play, and I think it gives us a different kind of focus.”
The win gives Henley its first outright state title; the Hornets were co-champions with Catlin Gabel in 1989 and 1990 after both finals ended in a draw. Gonzales played for each of those Henley teams, then made it back to the title game in 1996 as head coach of the Hornets girls and in 2013 with the Hornets boys, losing both times.
Now, after 25 seasons in his current role, Lupe Gonzales finally has a state championship only he (and his team) can claim.
“Honestly, it’s indescribable,” Gonzales said. “It’s a different kind of satisfaction.”
The Hornets, who also won their first-round game against No. 13 seed Philomath on penalties, are the first 4A team since 2013 to win multiple shootouts in the state playoffs. That year, Sisters won back-to-back shootouts in the first round and quarterfinals. The Outlaws would go on to beat Henley 1-0 in the state championship game.
This is the third season in a row and seventh since the current seeding format began in 2013 that a team seeded fourth or lower has won the 4A championship. Newport/Waldport won the title as the No. 4 seed last year, and Ontario won it as the No. 5 seed in 2022.
In addition to a historic state championship, Henley’s seniors–Flores, Kyle Johnson, Brian Leon, Jayce Powers and Max Tobiasson–graduate with four Skyline Conference championships. The group amassed a four-year record of 53-9-5, including a 28-3-3 record in league play.
North Marion’s seniors–Lomeli Marin, Alan Lucas and Jahir Delgado–depart after guiding the Huskies to their third state championship game appearance and first since 2018. North Marion won its only state title in 2014.
