Senior defenseman Robert Rowan smiles in the huddle after Hood River stomped Crook County 8-0 on Oct. 21.
The Hood River Valley boys soccer team outscored two Intermountain Conference opponents this past week by a combined 12-0 score and is one win away from winning the league championship.
The Eagles (9-1-2 overall, 7-0-1 Intermountain) beat Crook County, 8-0, on Oct. 19, despite the absence of one of HRV’s captains, Jaden Dubon. The striker was excused from the team to train with the Belize U18 national squad. Two days later, the Eagles traveled south to Redmond, where HRV completed a season sweep over the Panthers, 4-0.
“Games are always a little bit tougher away from Hood River,” said Coach Jaime Rivera of HRV’s win at Redmond.
HRV’s near-perfect conference record can’t quite guarantee a conference championship, but the Eagles could wrap up the crown and the IMC’s No. 1 spot in state playoffs with either a home win over Pendleton on Oct. 26 or a win at Gorge rival The Dalles on Thursday.
Ridgeview is the lone team that can catch Hood River, if the Eagles lose both their final two games and the Ravens win out. Hood River holds the tiebreaker over Ridgeview, by virtue of its two-game sweep of the Ravens. The latest Eagle win was a 2-1 come-from-behind effort Oct. 14 when Dubon and Cody Cornejo scored HRV goals.
The Eagles faced no such deficit in dominating Crook County, scoring just one minute into the game. Milo Clarkson finished a shot into the side netting and past the Cowboy goalkeeper. Clarkson scored his second goal a minute later.
Edgar Lachino, Oscar Avalos, and Cornejo all contributed to the offensive effort. The Eagles put the game out of reach in the first half as they went into the break ahead by six goals. Rivera said that both he and his team knew this game would be lopsided.
“We’re working on certain objectives in a game like this,” said Rivera. “So, we celebrate very briefly.”
The game ended in the 48th minute when Cornejo scored Hood River’s eighth goal of the game. Per OSAA rules, once a team has gained an eight-goal lead the game will end.
Hood River keepers Hugh Dalbey and Izaiah Adams combined for the shutout, Hood River’s fifth of the season.
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.