The Dalles girls earn two more shutout soccer wins

THE DALLES  - The two-time defending Tri-Valley Conference champion and No. 2-ranked The Dalles High Riverhawks (3-0 TVC, 9-0 overall) remained undefeated in OSAA Class 4A girls soccer after getting two TVC, shutout home wins last week.

The Riverhawks, guided by 12th-year Coach Colby Tonn, won 8-0 over the No. 4-ranked Gladstone High Gladiators (3-1 TVC, 7-3 overall) on Sept. 30, followed by a 5-0 victory over the Estacada High Rangers (0-3 TVC, 3-4-2 overall) on Oct. 2.

“We’ve been playing well together as a team and sharing the ball and we’re getting people in the box and taking good shots and so they’ve been a lot of fun to watch this year,” said Tonn. “Winning our first three (league) games is a good start … We’re taking care of business one game at a time.

“We still have bigger ambitions and so we’re continuing to work hard and make sure that we can go farther in the playoffs than we did last year.”

The Riverhawks, who reached the 4A state quarterfinals in 2024, led 3-0 at halftime over the Rangers, as junior Alondra Romero, sophomore Willow Ziegenhagen and junior Lilyana Gonzalez each scored goals. Senior Natalia Elias and junior Ariana Gonzalez both scored in the second half for the Riverhawks.

The Dalles has won seven straight games versus Estacada overlapping the past four seasons. The game was the Riverhawks’ eighth shutout this season.

“Defensively, our back line (Abril Rincon, Yaritza Torres-Escobedo, Katie Quevedo, Jaki Negrete) is doing a great job and our forwards are putting lots of pressure offensively on our opponents,” said Tonn. “Our two alternating goalkeepers of Bryce Newby and Kaiya Doty are both doing a great job. They each play keeper for half of the game.”

The Riverhawks were seeking a 10th straight win in an Oct. 7 TVC road matchup against the No. 9-ranked Molalla High Indians (2-1 TVC, 6-3 overall). The Riverhawks play Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. at home versus the Madras High White Buffaloes (0-3 TVC, 1-7-1 overall).

“We just hope to keep our momentum going in the second half of the season,” said Tonn.

The Riverhawks are the only unbeaten and untied squad out of 30 Class 4A teams, and they have the No. 1 ranked offense (6.2 goals per game average; 56 goals). The Dalles is tied for first defensively with the No. 6-ranked Henley High Hornets (7-0-2). Both teams have allowed just one goal scored this year.