The Dalles boys lose in soccer shootout at Seaside

“It’s a pretty rough way to go out,” said Dallman. “Games are not normally settled like that. It’s tough and it’s even more frustrating knowing that we controlled most of the game. It came down to a shootout and there’s usually a lot of luck involved in shootouts.”

The Dalles sophomore midfielder Anthony Santana scored a goal midway through the first half to give the Riverhawks the lead. A couple of minutes before halftime, Seaside knotted it 1-1. The two evenly matched teams then battled through a scoreless second half, which was followed by a 20-minute scoreless overtime period.

Seaside broke the 1-1 overtime deadlock and won 4-3 in the penalty kick tiebreaker. Santana, Alex Kjoelseth and senior midfielder Martin Romero Para each scored penalty kick goals for The Dalles.

“We went to Seaside feeling pretty confident about our chance to get a win. It’s been a huge pleasure for me playing soccer here and I’ve definitely had lots of fun,”said Kjoelseth, a foreign exchange student from Denmark.

“Most of the players on our team have never been involved in a shootout before. It was kind of rough and we just couldn’t pull out the win in penalty kicks,” said Alvarado.

The contest marked the final game for seniors Kjoelseth, Edgar Lopez, Ondrej Necas, Kenny Martinez, Miguel Leon, Daniel Cantolan, Martin Romero Para, and Grey Roetcisoender.

“Those seniors on our team will definitely be missed,” said Dallman. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with them since they were freshmen. It’s always tough watching kids play their final high school game. It always hits them hard after the game when they realize that their career is over and that they’ll probably never play a competitive soccer game again.”

The Riverhawks concluded the Tri-Valley Conference schedule with an Oct. 25 match against the Molalla High Indians (8-4-2 overall) on a rainy evening at Molalla High School. The Riverhawks had a scoring opportunity six minutes into the contest as Martinez was in position for good shot, but he was unable to capitalize.

With 23 minutes remaining in the first half, the game was delayed as a strong thunderstorm brought very heavy rain, gusty winds, and lightning nearby. Shortly thereafter, the game was canceled because it was the final game of the regular season, and the outcome wouldn’t have any effect on the TVC standings.