Soccer quartet rewarded for effort

Walasavage has been the catalyst on all areas of the field with her smarts, ball skills and speed.

She finished with 29 goals and 12 assists in four seasons, and had a pass on a corner kick to McCall, whose header made it past the Hillsboro goalkeeper into the back of the net for the Hawks’ lone goal in a 5-1 state play-in loss on Oct. 31.

“Hannah did a wonderful job in the midfield this year,” Tonn said. “She was the team’s leading goal scorer the last couple of seasons, but did a great job of playing a more central role this year as opposed to mainly an attacking option.”

With the loss of Marta Gamez and a few other key defensive parts from the 2014 team, Tonn had a plan in place to introduce a flat-back four defensive scheme with a newly-formed defensive core on the back end to stop the opposition.

With the play of Taylor, the Riverhawks finished 13th in the state with 39 goals allowed.

TD surrendered two goals or less on eight different occasions with three shutouts, amassing a record of 4-3-1 in those matchups.

For those numbers, added to her leadership attributes, communication skills and physical play, Ivorie Taylor was a shoo-in for first team recognition for the first time in her high school career.

“Ivorie did a great job of solidifying the defense,” Tonn said. “She played with aggressiveness and intelligence on the back line.”

Finding the right pieces to fit in the spots is always difficult for a coach, but with Bonham’s versatility, she could fit it and excel at a moment’s notice.

She had a couple of shutouts in goal, assisted on some scoring plays and also hit the back of the net a few times in 2015.

“Jen did a great job of playing anywhere on the field,” Tonn said of Bonham’s contributions. “She played five games in goal, as well as the first two-thirds of the season as a forward. The last five games of the year, she played center back and was a key piece that created a dynamic pairing in the back with Ivorie. Jen took to the position, as if she had played it for years.”

In back-to-back seasons, McCall has started to rise to the occasion on the soccer field and it shown with solid results and all-league.

As a sophomore in 2014, McCall was a second teamer, and this year, opposing coaches picked her name as a second team selection for her play at midfield.

“Brooke did a great job as both a box-to-box midfielder and a center forward,” Tonn said. “She was a team leader in goals this year. She sends some great through balls and made a lethal combination on set pieces with Walasavage.”

Tonn fielded a group of two sophomores, a freshman and as many as six juniors on the soccer roster and the results added up to four wins in 15 matches, third place in the CRC and a state play-in berth.

The Riverhawks started the season 2-4, and then went on a 0-4 stretch in October, before beating Pendleton 4-1 on Oct. 20 to give them a shot at the postseason, a 5-1 loss to Hillsboro.

“I thought the results weren’t always there, but I thought the positive attitudes and their treatment of each other was always positive,” Tonn said. “The girls stayed together as a whole, stayed in good spirits and a couple of results here and there and this season could have been much different.”