Looking to keep their season alive, The Dalles boys’ soccer team could not stop Sandy’s Ryan Escareno, as he netted three opening-half goals in a 4-0 state play-in shutout victory Saturday in Sandy.
The No. 16-ranked Pioneers dominated the pace of play in the first half by peppering TD goalkeeper Jaime Castro with three shots on goal in the first six minutes of action, using Escareno’s prowess to jump ahead by a 3-0 halftime score.
Sandy tallied an insurance marker in the second half for the final score.
TD head coach Matthew Dallman said there was a large intimidation factor that he could feel and see from the first minute with Sandy, which had 10 returning senior starters, coming out fired up, yelling and jumping around, while the Hawk players looked intimidated.
“Game flow was in one direction in the first half,” Dallman said. “They came out strong and put us under immediate pressure to the point where we struggled to get out of our own half of the field. They had a long throw and some players that were good in the air, and fast, which we struggled to deal with early on.”
Castro ended up with four saves in goal, and the Riverhawks managed just three shots in 80 minutes of action.
“Their high-pressure defense was very effective,” Dallman said.
Over the past few seasons, the Riverhawks have steadily increased their win total, going from two in 2015, four in 2016, to five this year, and they also added some extra scoring punch, rising from 10, 20 and 31 goals over that same three-year span.
Added to that, after a two-year postseason hiatus, the Riverhawks vaulted into the postseason mix in back-to-back campaigns.
The team also scored goals against perennial state contender Hood River Valley in two consecutive games, where before, the team did not hit the back of the net over a five-year span, including a 9-0 spread last season.
“I am extremely proud of the team’s progress this year,” Dallman said. “We competed against Hood River Valley and Hermiston, who will be state title contenders this year, and we caused them a lot of problems.”
Although the Riverhawks entered state play-in action last weekend as winners of one of their last six matches, three of those setbacks were by two goals or fewer, two against the 5A classification’s top-ranked school, Hood River Valley, and another was at home on Oct. 5 versus the 4A’s No. 3 team, Mac-Hi (Milton-Freewater).
The one win, a 4-1 triumph, came on Oct. 17 at Pendleton.
As the team focuses its attention on the 2018 season, Dallman lauded the play and leadership of his senior quartet of Pedro Lopez and Junior Ornelas, both team captains, along with Jose Gutierrez and Adan Ortiz.
“I am extremely proud of all my seniors,” Dallman said. “They set great examples for our younger players, and they will be missed.”
With the departure of the four seniors, Reed Twidwell and Jake Roetcisoender are scheduled to be the two returning seniors, and Miguel Aguilar, Omar Torres, Alejandro Gutierrez, Alberto Gallegos, Andy Lopez and Castro make up some of the core returning standouts.
The Dalles is expected to have a good crop of talent coming up in the next couple years, which is exciting for Dallman. Struggling for numbers this year was unexpected and frustrating for coach Dallman and assistant coach Emmanuel Elias, but they still see future success on the horizon.
“Next year will come down to having nine returning starters, who have now experienced that playoff pressure, playing under the lights in Hood River, on senior night, with a camera crew. That is all very intimidating stuff for 14-year-old and 15-year-old kids,” Dallman said. “Next year, it will be a more comfortable and familiar feeling and we can hopefully put together better performances in these critical games.”
During the two-and-a-half month fall season, the Riverhawks endured some obstacles and adversity, a lack of depth, and still had the wherewithal to overcome and make a second-straight postseason appearance.
While the season is over, Dallman emphasized the need for players in the program to keep active, whether in the weight room, in workouts, scrimmages, or whatever else to keep their skills sharper.
“To stay driven and improve, the boys will have to do some offseason work,” Dallman said. “There is no club system locally, so it makes it hard. Almost everywhere else in the state, kids have multiple options to keep them engaged in soccer, year-round, which if you want to compete for state titles, you need a bulk of your players to be playing year-round.”
However, Dallman can rely on the Gorge Soccer Academy and its reach to get more male and female athletes involved in the sport.
The program’s aim is to help with foot skills and fundamentals that are crucial to play at a competitive level.
GSA starts its indoor schedule from November-through-February, then switches to outdoor in the spring.
Dallman’s indoor soccer league gives kids the option to keep playing games during the winter, starting November.
“This year, a lot of players on our team worked with the academy during the offseason, and I attribute that offseason work to our improvement,” Dallman said.
Both GSA and GSL leagues are open to boys and girls of all ages.
Find out more about both academy programs at www.gorgesoccer.net.
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