Sophomore forward Aran Garcia controls a pass on the wing before crossing the ball into the Gresham Gophers goalie box on Aug. 31. Garcia and the Eagles tied Gresham 2-2 in the first competition of the season.
Sophomore Aran Garcia and senior Dameon Solorazano embrace after the Eagles took a 1-0 lead early in the first half against the Gresham Gophers on Aug. 31.
Eagle captain Kieran Chown makes a calculated pass upfield in the first half of Hood River’s 2-2 tie with the Gresham Gophers on Aug. 31.
Hood River Valley squandered an early 1-0 lead and later had to come back with some late-match heroics to earn a 2-2 boys soccer tie Aug. 31 against visiting Gresham.
The match had been postponed a day because of excessive heat and was played with an 8 p.m. start time.
“We looked like it was our first game of the season — a lot of energy but kind of disorganized,” Eagle Coach Jaime Rivera said. “I would say that the first half was a better showing for us than the second half, in terms of our passing. We were the better team the first half then things kind of changed the second half a little bit. We started kind of playing kick and chase instead of passing the ball around.”
HRV held a 1-0 lead at the break, as Dameon Solorzano scored off a corner kick from Aran Garcia. Gresham, from the Class 6A Mt. Hood Conference, took advantage of some hesitant defending to build a 2-1 second-half lead. The Gophers are an experienced team with nine seniors.
Gresham scored its first goal when a Hood River defender headed the ball back and it went over the Eagle goalie’s head. The second Gopher goal came after some hesitation by the Eagle defense, “which led to chaos,” Rivera said.
“They were good, man,” Rivera said. “They had three players who were really good. They had a strong center defender, and they have two strikers who also were strong players.
“We have a young team so there were quite a lot of mistakes out there.”
Yet, it was a mistake by the Gophers — forced by Garcia — which led to the equalizer with about 15 minutes to play. He was fouled after pressuring the Gresham defense which set up a free kick. Senior Kiernan Chown, HRV’s most experienced player with two prior varsity seasons to his credit, sent the kick toward goal, where Oscar Moline ran onto the free ball and scored.
“Aran, he’s got a lot energy,” Rivera said. “And man, what a player. He’s going to give teams fits.”
Next up for the Eagles is the Gorge rivalry match with The Dalles at 7 p.m. on Thursday on the Wahtonka campus. The Riverhawks got off to a 2-0 start this season outscoring La Grande and Pendleton, 15-1 (see related story this issue). In the past eight matches between the two teams, four have ended in ties and the other four have been split.
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