HOOD RIVER — Hood River Valley (HRV) and McKay, two schools with storied boys soccer history, are scheduled to play each other in the Nov. 5 first round of the OSAA Class 5A state playoffs. The 7 p.m. playoff match is at HRV’s Henderson Stadium.
Coach Alvaro Lara’s Eagles finished the regular season Oct. 29, playing visiting Milwaukie (7-3-4 overall, 2-3-3 Northwest Oregon Conference) to a 1-1 tie in the final NWOC game for both teams. HRV (8-3-4 overall, 5-1-2 NWOC) finished second in the final nine-team league standings. Hood River has qualified for the boys state soccer playoffs 22 of the past 24 seasons they have been held (COVID-19 canceled the 2020 playoffs).
McKay has a storied boys soccer history, as well. Since 2009, the Royal Scots have qualified for state 13 of 14 seasons (missing out in 2017). McKay was a Class 6A school in boys soccer until 2022, when the Royal Scots won the 5A state championship. A season ago, when HRV was making its run to the title game, McKay lost to La Salle Prep in the quarterfinals.
McKay, 7-7 this season, finished fifth in the Mid-Willamette Conference. The Royal Scots qualified for state largely because of its tough schedule, which led to a No. 10 OSAA ranking. McKay started the season by losing four of its first five nonleague matches to Class 6A schools.
Hood River, the state champion in 2014 and 2015, finished the year ranked seventh. Against Milwaukie, Hood River senior captain Julian Lara scored on a penalty kick with 10 minutes remaining to give the Eagles a 1-0 advantage. The lead lasted five minutes, as Milwaukie scored the equalizer following a defensive lapse on a long Mustang free kick.
The Eagles, who lost in last year’s 5A championship game, 1-0, to Summit of Bend, were one of five NWOC teams to earn berths in this year’s playoffs. The eight winning teams on Nov. 5 advance to the state quarterfinals Nov. 9. The McKay-HRV winner plays the winner of a first-round match between La Salle Prep and Churchill. La Salle, this year’s NWOC regular season champion, had one conference loss this season, 3-0, on Oct. 9 to Hood River.
Girls soccer earns at-large berth
The Hood River Valley girls soccer team was scheduled to play a Class 5A first round playoff game in Bend against Caldera High on Wednesday, Nov. 6. The Eagles were ranked high enough in the final standings to earn a wildcard invitation despite losing two of their final three contests. The No. 6 ranked Caldera Wolfpack have remained unbeaten since their last loss on Sept. 25 to Summit High.
The game is scheduled to kickoff at 6 p.m. (results after the print deadline).
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