Eagle girls open 5A soccer playoffs at home

Hood River wrapped up its regular season Oct. 29 at second-ranked Sandy, where the Pioneers completed their league season unbeaten (6-0) with a 2-0 win. It was the first loss for HRV since a 1-0 setback Sept. 17 against La Salle.

Earlier in the week, Coach Kevin Haspela’s Eagles thumped winless St. Helens, 8-0, on senior night festivities Oct. 27. The Eagles started the match strong, with junior Josie Faaborg scoring HRV’s first goal just minutes into the first half. Faaborg made it a brace when she found the net again eight minutes later

St. Helens was able to take a handful of shots on the goal, though most went high. Hood River senior Keira Brennan was also a dominant player throughout the game, scoring multiple goals for the Eagles.

The first half ended with junior Cate Haspela scoring HRV’s seventh goal. The mercy rule then stopped the game early after Hood River captain and senior Ainsley Chown took the score to 8-0 Hood River.

Coach Haspela said of the team: “I’m just proud of the environment that they create for themselves. Everyone’s super happy and supportive (and) we want to see everyone succeed.”

Eagle boys play at La Salle

The HRV boys finished third in the NWOC behind Centennial and Parkrose. The Eagles (8-5-2) beat St. Helens 9-0 on Oct. 27 but finished in a 2-2 tie against Sandy two days later. Hood River is the No. 10-seeded 5A team and will play at 7 p.m. at No. 7 La Salle Prep in the Nov. 3 eight-match first round.

La Salle Prep (9-5-1) won the Greater Metro Conference and beat Hood River, 3-0, in a Sept. 17 nonleague match this fall.

The Eagles fell behind 2-0 early in the second half of the Oct. 29 senior night match against visiting Sandy. But HRV came to offensive life two minutes later when Ivar Van Rutledge beat two defenders for possession on a pass from Santiago Flores. Van Rutledge pressed forward and caught the oncoming Sandy keeper off guard when he outmaneuvered a Pioneer defender for control. His right-footed shot rolled past the keeper and into the net 15 yards away.

Hood River tied the match with about 11 minutes remaining. A Sandy defender headed the ball out from in front of the goal mouth after Ethan Robertson’s crossing pass. Moises Vega stopped the ball with his left foot in the middle of the field about 25 yards away. He stepped into a right-footed shot which the Sandy keeper got his right hand on, but the ball deflected up, hit the crossbar and came down in the goal area.

Seattle Strayer contributed to this report.