Strand’s hat trick leads TD girls soccer to win

Foreign exchange student Johanne Strand made her big splash on the varsity circuit with three goals for her first career hat trick and Brooke McCall and Monique Mendiola added a tally each in The Dalles’ 5-0 shutout win over Redmond Thursday at Redmond High School.

As part of a three-goal barrage in the opening half, the Riverhawks came out swinging early and often with McCall breaking the seal five into action.

On a free kick, McCall booted a shot from 25 yards out past the Redmond keeper for a goal to make it 1-0.

At the 19-minute mark, the Norwegian Flash (Strand) potted her first goal from 22 yards away after taking a drop pass from Shaynie Watson and the scoreboard doubled to 2-0.

With just 11 minutes left in the first half, McCall and Mendiola teamed up for a highlight-reel goal.

From midfield, McCall dribbled through the Panther defense and made a pass from 15 yards away to Mendiola.

All in one motion, Mendiola jumped in the air and used her left foot to fire her shot by the Redmond goalie to run the count to 3-0 at the break.

Staked to the three-goal cushion to start the second half, McCall started the offense once again on a corner kick.

As the Redmond defense tried to make a clearing pass, the ball landed in front of Strand and she took advantage of her good fortune with her second goal to swell the lead to 4-0.

Three minutes after her second marker, Strand was at it again, as she corralled a cross pass from Emma Weir for a goal inside the penalty area to complete the trifecta and give her squad a 5-0 lead.

With the play of Mendiola, McCall, Strand and the rest of the scoring threats, defensively, the revamped Riverhawk back quartet is proving their worth in a major way thus far.

The Dalles coach Colby Tonn has been more than happy with the performances of Bri Stavaas-Jamack, Marta Gamez, Alexia Tapia and Ivorie Taylor.

“They did a good job of applying pressure and dropping down to support one another,” Tonn said. “If the offensive player got past one of our defenders, someone was there. They were making great recovery routes at the proper angle to get into position to help out.” Having a stout defense is critical when it comes to the final product, but stopping any offensive flow from the opposition enables goalkeepers like Jennifer Bonham and Emma Ell-Smith to play more freely.

In Tuesday’s match at Mac-Hi, the duo made three saves apiece, and the solid play continued Thursday with two more saves each.

“They are all doing a good job with communication,” Tonn said of Bonham and Ell-Smith. “Our goalkeepers are relatively new, but they are doing a really good job of being assertive. When they go, they go. They are also doing a good job of organizing their back line, which is something that normally takes a while, you know the vocal part, but both of them are picking it up really quick.”

The Dalles (2-0 overall) plays again next Thursday at 4 p.m. in St. Helens.