Hood River Valley girls lacrosse team splits games last week

Hood River was scheduled to play at Wilson on May 11 and finishes with home games Thursday against Lincoln (6-0) and Summit of Bend on May 18.

Coach Bekah Rottenberg and assistant Gianna Ossello have melded the young HRV team into a tough matchup for Portland League opponents. Rottenberg said the enthusiasm of simply having a team during a pandemic has been contagious in itself. Things like a team bonding day, that included some slam ball, have helped the players mesh.

“We are so psyched to have a season this year,” Rottenberg said. “We’re a really young team. Our four starting defenders were all ninth graders (in a game two weeks ago).”

Rottenberg said the Eagles have some great leadership from Josephine Stenn and Brynne Holman. “She never played goalie before and just started playing last year for the first time; she has just completely stepped up to the challenge,” Rottenberg said. “She is just so strong; she’s a natural.”

The coach said all upperclassmen are leading by example. “They are all positive,” she said. “They’re all vocal and they communicate really well, both with me and the rest of the team.”

HRV started 1-2 in its first three games, but Rottenberg said the team showed marked improvement each game. “Both the games that we lost we played really, really well,” she said. “We’ve been playing teams that have been playing together for a lot longer than us.”

Despite her age, ninth-grader Ava Kitt is one of the more experienced players for HRV and leads the midfield. “She’s just a phenomenal athlete, not only a talented lacrosse player, but she works really, really hard,” the coach said. Kitt leads the team with 11 goals and four assists.

Isis Stenn leads the defense and also has contributed nine goals, as has Emma Kroll who is a perfect 9-for-9 on shot attempts. Sophia Riviello (six) and Ava Horst (four) also have scored multiple goals for the Eagles.

“We’ve just been focusing on controlling the controllables and not stressing and worrying about things that are out of our control,” Rottenberg said. “We’re focusing on building strong connections with our teammates and having fun.”

The head coach said her assistant, Ostello, has been a great addition to the program in her first year. “She played at Duke and the girls love her.”

The HRV boys split Columbia Conference games last week. The Eagles lost 10-5 to Grant on Friday but rebounded to beat Wilson 21-5 on Saturday. The lost to Grant dropped the Eagles (4-1 league, 4-2 overall) into a three-way tie for first place in the regular season standings with the Generals (4-1, 7-1) and Central Catholic (4-1, 5-3).