The Dalles High Riverhawks extended their unbeaten streak to eight in OSAA Class 4A boys soccer with a 5-1 victory over the Estacada High Rangers (0-4-3 TVC, 4-4-3 overall) in an Oct. 12 Tri-Valley Conference matchup in The Dalles.
With the win, the Riverhawks (4-0-3 TVC, 6-1-3 overall) kept their hopes alive to win their first league title in 25 years. The Dalles, guided by third-year Coach Jesus Granados, trailed defending TVC champion Madras with two games left on the 10-game league schedule. The two teams were scheduled to play Oct. 16 in Madras.
“I think we played a little better against Estacada today than the last time we played them (a 4-4 tie Sept. 21),” Granados said. “I still think that we can play way better than what we played today. This was just a little bit of the potential that the team showed in this game.”
The Riverhawks took an early 1-0 lead less than one minute into the contest when senior forward Adrian Rodriguez scored on a header from six yards off an assist by junior midfielder Marcos Quiroz. The Riverhawks extended their advantage to 2-0 when sophomore midfielder Juam Camarillo scored from 18 yards in the ninth minute.
Rodriguez helped put The Dalles up 3-0 in the 17th minute when he booted in a long shot from 23 yards. The goals for Rodriguez were the first two he has scored in his high school career.
“I’ve been playing defense for most of my career and then I started progressing towards playing midfield and then today I played my first game at forward,” Rodriguez said. “It was so nice to hear the crowd cheering. We’ve had an amazing season and we’re going to the state playoffs, which is great, but the job isn’t done yet, because we want to go far in the playoffs.”
Junior midfielder Anthony Santana and junior Hulises Najera also scored in the first half for The Dalles.
The Dalles goalkeeper Alvarado said it was important to score early. “Unfortunately, we kind of settled down a little bit in the second half, but everything worked out well and we held them to one goal. They gave us a battle to a certain extent, but I think our defense was able to hold them down and they didn’t have too many scoring opportunities and definitely not as much as the last time we played them.”
Alvarado’s back line support came from defenders Gilberto Guttierez, Hector Morales, Quiroz, Nolan Donivan, Angel Morales, and David McCracken.
The Riverhawks extended their unbeaten streak to seven following a 1-1 tie versus the Crook County High Cowboys on Oct. 9 in Prineville. Najera scored on a header from an assist by Camarillo. Crook County scored a goal in the second half to get the tie. The Riverhawks had 13 shots on goal and Alvarado had three saves.
The Dalles has almost clinched a spot in the 16-team 4A state playoffs that begin Nov. 1.
“We play every game like it’s a championship game,” said Granados. “We can’t get complacent, and we can’t think that we’re already in the playoffs, because we have to continue playing hard and pretend like it’s a league championship game.
“If we keep playing the way we are, and the boys keep the same mentality that they have and they remain focused, then I think we’ll have a good chance to win the league title.”
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