THE DALLES — The Dalles High girls soccer team beat Klamath Union 3-0 in the Class 4A state quarterfinals on Nov. 8 at Henderson Stadium in Hood River.
The Dalles will take on Scappoose High (15-1-1) in the OSAA 4A state semifinals on Nov. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Wahtonka campus. The Dalles had lost in the last two state quarterfinals during its four-year 4A state playoff run.
Top-seeded Marist Catholic (15-2-1) will host No. 4 seed Henley (14-0-2) in the other semifinal. Marist beat Scappoose in last year’s semifinal en route to the 2024 state crown.
The Riverhawks (16-0) got going early and often against the Pelicans (9-5-1), and kept applying pressure defensively. Junior forward Ariana Gonzalez found the back of the net first with a pop-up goal for The Dalles with 2:21 left in the first half. Senior midfielder Natalia Elias added a clutch first-half goal from about 30 yards out with 12 seconds left in the first half, pushing the lead to 2-0.
Junior midfielder Lilyana Gonzalez scored with 11:53 left for the Riverhawks, who also beat Klamath Union in a non-league match, Sept. 9 in The Dalles.
The Dalles advanced to the quarterfinals with a dominant, 8-0, victory over visiting Rainier/Clatskanie/Knappa in the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 4. The Riverhawks scored their eight goals before halftime en route to their third straight quarterfinal appearance.
“Today, what we emphasized, and what the girls did a great job of, was dropping and switching the ball,” Coach Colby Tonn said after the first-round game. “Especially on the wet grass, rather than trying to always go towards the goal. They did a good job playing two-touch early and swinging it and getting it out, getting it in.”
Junior midfielder Lilyana Gonzalez got things started for the Riverhawks with a goal with 30:53 left in the first half. Three minutes later, junior forward Ariana Gonzalez nailed her first of four goals. Senior midfielder Elias knocked in a goal of her own with 23:05 left in the first half to stretch the lead to 4-0. Sophomore midfielder Willow Ziegenhagen added two goals.
Junior defender Yaritza Torres-Escobedo said: “I’m just happy about our season so far. This is a really strong team, and I think we’re going to make it really far.”
The semifinal winners play for the 4A state title on Nov. 15 at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.
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