The Dalles girls soccer wins third straight TVC title

THE DALLES — Tri-Valley Conference champion The Dalles High Riverhawks continued their impressive, undefeated season with two league road wins last week, capturing their third straight conference title.

The No. 2-ranked Riverhawks (7-0 TVC, 13-0 overall) won 3-1 over No. 5-ranked Gladstone (6-2 TVC, 10-5 overall) on Oct. 21. Junior forward and scoring leader Ariana Gonzalez scored two goals, and junior forward Alondra Romero scored the other for the Riverhawks.  The Riverhawks followed with a 5-0 victory over Estacada (1-6 TVC, 4-7-2 overall) on Oct. 23. Twin sisters Ariana Gonzalez (two goals) and Lilyana Gonzalez (three goals) were the offensive leaders; the Riverhawks recorded their 10th shutout of the season.

The Riverhawks, guided by 12th-year Coach Colby Tonn and assistant Darcey Hodges, were seeking to get another win in their regular season finale Oct. 28 at home on senior night versus Molalla (4-3 TVC, 9-5 overall).

“The team just continued to work hard when they started practice at the beginning of the season,” said Tonn. “Even though we’ve won league three years in a row now, the girls have continued to strive to get better and improve.”

The Riverhawks have qualified for the 16-team Class 4A state playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. They’ll play a first-round home game Nov. 4.

“It’s a huge advantage being ranked No. 2, because then we’ll be hosting playoff games in the first round, the quarterfinals and the semifinals,” said Tonn. “Home teams historically win a majority of games in the playoffs.”

The Riverhawks set an all-time The Dalles High School single season team records for goals scored (78) and goals allowed (3). The Riverhawks have the top-ranked offense (six goals per game average) out of 31 4A squads, and they’re ranked second defensively with three goals allowed.

“The big key to our success this year was the scoring outburst, of course, along with the girls having another year experience and getting familiar with where each other is on the field,” said Tonn. “We focused on solidifying our defense more this year. We knew that we had a lot of offensive talent. On defense, the team really has to work together as a whole group to take away space. A lot of our girls have a lot of goals, and they all have lots of assists, too.”

The defense is led by the goalkeeping duo of junior Kaiya Doty and sophomore Bryce Newby, who each play half the game in front of the net. Junior goalkeeper Olivia Prado is still recovering from an injury and Tonn says he’s hoping that she will return to the lineup for the playoffs.