The Dalles girls win opener, then lose first of back-to-back matches against Hermiston

“It was our first game in a long time (16 months) but the girls did an awesome job of possessing the ball at midfield, particularly with Hert, Harrah and Hanani Andrade doing such a good job,” said Tonn. “They were great finishes by Courtney on both of her goals. It was nice seeing us score goals in the flow of the game. All the girls did a great job; everyone played with a positive attitude and they all worked very hard.”

The Riverhawks play their first home game Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in a rematch against the Hermiston Bulldogs. “It will be interesting in the next game against Hermiston to see how we respond after having three days of practice,” said Tonn. “They’re (Hermiston) a very good team, but I think after seeing them on Saturday, we’ll respond well and play much better against them.”

On Saturday, the Riverhawks lost 5-0 at Hermiston.

“We started off well, but then we got too flat along our line and we kind of allowed too much of their (Hermiston) pressure and they were able to score some goals,” said Tonn. “We talked at halftime and made some adjustments, and it was a better second half for us. We did a better job of controlling the ball. Our girls played physical and aggressive against a very good Hermiston team. We created more scoring chances in the second half and although we didn’t get a goal, we had some good opportunities to score.”

Senior goalkeeper Kierstin White made several key saves to help slow the Hermiston offensive attack in the second half. Freshman Katlyn Sorenson played the last 15 minutes of the match in her first varsity game ever and she had a good debut while making some impressive saves.

“The girls didn’t hang their heads at halftime, and they had a very good attitude while focusing on what they needed to do differently in the second half and that was a good thing to see,” said Tonn. “The girls responded by playing very well in the second half.”

The Bulldogs didn’t get their fifth goal until just 10 seconds remained in the match.

TD boys soccer

The Dalles Riverhawks (1-0) opened the season with a 2-0 win at home over the Riverside Pirates (0-2) last Thursday at the Wahtonka campus soccer field. A scheduled home contest against the Pendleton Buckaroos last Saturday was cancelled.

The Riverhawks play their next game Thursday against rival Hood River Valley (0-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Henderson Community Stadium in Hood River. HRV lost its opener Friday 5-2 against Franklin in Portland. On Saturday, the Riverhawks meet the McLoughlin Pioneers (2-0) at noon in Milton-Freewater.

Against Riverside, senior Alex Gutierrez scored in the 18th minute off an assist by sophomore Fabian Canchola to give The Dalles a 1-0 lead. Senior Omar Torres scored in the 27th minute on an assist from Juan Mejia for the 2-0 advantage. The Riverhawks outshot the Pirates 9-6. Senior goalkeeper Jaime Castro recorded three saves to secure the shutout for The Dalles.