Halfway through what has been a fabulous season, The Dalles High Riverhawks girls soccer team was undefeated following a 7-3 win over the Madras High White Buffaloes in a Class 4A Tri-Valley Conference contest Sept. 26 at home.
How quickly things can change though.
The Riverhawks suffered some misfortune when junior starting goalkeeper Katlyne Sorensen was injured during the game against Madras while trying to save a penalty kick. The extent of Sorensen’s injury is unknown at this time and her possible return to the lineup is uncertain.
The injury and a tough schedule led to back-to-back losses to visiting Gladstone and host Corbett. The Riverhawks (3-1 TVC, 4-1-2 overall), guided by Coach Colby Tonn, suffered their first loss of the season in a lopsided 7-0 setback against No. 4 Gladstone (4-0 TVC, 7-1 overall). A day later, the weary Riverhawks’ squad lost a second straight game, 4-3, to Corbett (2-1 Special District 1, 5-1 overall). The Dalles was led in scoring by junior forward Amyrah Hill (two goals) and junior midfielder Josefine Nielsen (one goal).
“The Madras game was fun because we scored two goals in the first five minutes,” said Tonn. “We scored a bunch of goals late in the second half to pull away and get the win. Gladstone is a tough team, and they were playing a high-pressure offense and it disrupted us. We needed to string together more passes and switch field positions more often.
“They (Gladiators) totally deserved the win, but we’ll get to play them again (Oct. 20 at Gladstone) and hopefully it will be a closer game.”
Led by defenders Maisie Bandel-Ramirez, Ivy Wollum, Yadhira Cruz-Torres, and Naomi Heredia, the Riverhawks played great defense in the first half, while trailing the high scoring Gladiators 1-0 at halftime. “We thought that since we had the wind at our back in the second half, it would be an advantage for us, but it just didn’t work out,” said Tonn.
Gladstone, which has the No. 1-ranked offense (47 goals) out of 32 4A teams, displayed that potent offensive attack in the second half. The Gladiators scored six goals to earn their seventh straight victory and hand The Dalles its first shutout. The Dalles junior Lilly Gabel is now the Riverhawks goalkeeper in the absence of Sorensen.
“Lilly did a good job versus Gladstone and the goals that were scored were not her fault, because we just didn’t protect her enough back there,” said Tonn. “The shots that they (Gladiators) made were tough shots that would’ve been excellent saves for any keeper to make. Our biggest problem was possessing and then we were reacting, instead of anticipating. We’re hoping to have Katlyne back for our next game.”
The win over Madras (0-3-1 TVC, 1-4-1 overall) was highlighted by a three-goal hat trick for Riverhawks’ leading scorer Hill, who has scored 13 goals. It marked the second hat trick this season for Hill, who also scored three goals in a 3-0 win over host Estacada (1-1-2 TVC, 1-4-3 overall) on Sept. 22.
“It felt amazing to go score three goals and help our team get a win over Madras,” said Hill. “I felt like we truly deserved that win. Honestly, I don’t think Gladstone is the best team we’ve played this year. I just felt like we didn’t play together as a team. I felt like they (Gladstone) are just like any other team and we’re capable of beating them.
“I think La Grande was the best team we’ve played this season. It’s the first time that we truly had some adversity this year, but we’ll bounce back from it.”
Against Madras, The Dalles sophomore midfielder Paola Elias scored two goals, her first this season. “I had a free kick, which I kicked really hard, and it went in,” said Elias. “I was able to put another one in for my second goal and so I was really happy. We knew that Gladstone was a strong team, but I was surprised we lost, 7-0.
“We’re having a good season and I think we’ll have a pretty good chance to go to the state playoffs this year.”
The Dalles senior midfielder Natasha Muzechenko had an outstanding performance, as well, against Madras with three assists. Freshman midfielder Natalia Elias had one goal and two assists, and freshman midfielder Jaki Negrete scored a goal versus Madras.
“The game against Madras went pretty good for us, but we had kind of a tough loss to Gladstone,” said Muzechenko. “We just want to remember the good games and forget about this bad loss. We’ll play them again later and, hopefully, we’ll have a better performance against them.”
The Riverhawks play Oct. 10 versus the Crook County High Cowgirls (0-4 TVC, 0-7 overall) at Crook County High School in Prineville. The Dalles beat Crook County at home 8-0 on Sept. 20. The Cowgirls have lost 21 games in a row over the past two seasons.
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