Young Hawks ready to take 5A by storm

Bold denotes Home Game

8/25/2016 Thu 4pm @ Century

8/30/2016 Tue 4pm vs. Redmond/Culver

9/1/2016 Thu 4:30pm @ Parkrose

9/6/2016 Tue 4pm @ McLoughlin

9/13/2016 Tue 4pm @ Tualatin

9/15/2016 Thu 4pm vs. Madras

9/20/2016 Tue 4pm @ Ridgeview

9/22/2016 Thu 4pm vs. St. Helens

9/27/2016 Tue 4pm vs. Hermiston

9/29/2016 Thu 4pm vs. La Grande

10/4/2016 Tue 4pm @ Pendleton

10/11/2016 Tue 4pm @ Hood River Valley High School (Westside Elementary)

10/13/2016 Thu 4pm @ Hermiston

10/18/2016 Tue 4pm vs. Pendleton

10/25/2016 Tue 4pm vs. Hood River Valley

11/1/2016 at State Play-In

11/4/2016 State First Round

11/8/2016 State Second Round

11/12/2016 State Quarterfinals

Coaching Staff

Matt Dallman.............Head Coach

Jonathan Garrett........Asst. Coach

Emmanuel Elias..Jr. Varsity Coach

Varsity Roster

Pedro Lopez (12).................Striker

Abraham Garibay (10)...........Striker

Alex Lopez (12)......................Striker

Alberto Gallegos (9)...Str/Midfielder

Andres Lopez (9)..............Midfielder

Pedro Ayala (11)...............Midfielder

Alejandro Gutierrez (12)...Midfielder

Reed Twidwell (10)...........Midfielder

Miguel Aguilar (9)......Def/Midfielder

Jake Roetcisoender (10)....Defense

Jack Bonham (10)..............Defense

Sammuel Alvarez (9)..........Defense

Julian Quintana (9).............Defense

Brandon Bustamante (12)..Defense

With a new head coach in Matthew Dallman and a starting roster of five freshmen, four sophomores and five upperclassmen, The Dalles boys’ soccer team is not worried about a lack of experience, but will rely on teamwork and progression through the regular season.

“I think the chemistry is really high this year, we all want to play well and win some games,” said senior midfielder Pedro Ayala. “We have some good players and we have guys who fit in at their positions. We still have a lot to get better at. I like how we have practiced this week.”

Last season, the Riverhawks posted a 2-12 record and went 1-5 in league, the lone Columbia River Conference victory, a 2-0 triumph over Pendleton on Oct. 6, 2015.

In 14 matches played, the Riverhawks scored just 10 goals, only five coming after a 5-0 victory over Redmond on Sept. 3, so the onus was on the defense to try to play at a peak level.

All told, TD allowed two goals or less six times, and six of their losses were by two goals or less.

Looking to turn the tide on a lack of scoring will be Pedro Lopez, Abraham Garibay, Alex Lopez and Alberto Gallegos, who are penciled in at the striker position.

Alex Lopez sees the skill level there for an uptick in scoring chances and added that passing and finishing are just as important.

“Last year, it was hard for us to get some goals. I hope with coaching, we can get the offense going,” said Lopez, a senior. “We have some players that are pretty good up front, so I hope we can play the way we have practiced and get this team going. We have a good defense and solid midfielders, and now we have to step up and get some more goals.”

The Riverhawk defense allowed 45 goals, good for 28th in the 33-team 5A classification.

It was a mixed bag of sorts for the defensive unit, as the group surrendered three goals or more six times, but also gave up two goals or less, six times.

Of the six defenders, only Brandon Bustamante is a senior, and he will be flanked by sophomores Jake Roetcisoender and Jack Bonham and the freshman trio of Sammuel Alvarez, Julian Quintana and Miguel Aguilar. Aguilar may see some time at midfield as well.

“Defensively, we need to work on the basics,” Bustamante said. “Things like matching man-to-man when coming out of bounds and being able to move the ball back. Passing is going to get better too. It’s not just booting the ball and sometimes the small things like that that we need to understand.”

Midfield has been dubbed as the most important position on the field, especially given the fact that they not only need to be solid defenders who can help out on the back line, but skillful enough to jump into the offensive attack as well.

While some coaches stress that midfielders should think defensively first, they should also be able to quickly cycle the ball forward after taking it away from an attacker.

Alejandro Gutierrez has the most experience playing in the middle, given his senior status, and Pedro Ayala, a junior, is coming off a solid season where he earned second-team all-league recognition for his play.

Reed Twidwell, Alberto Gallegos, Andres Lopez and Aguilar will also see extended looks in the middle.

“I think we’re going to have a very wide open team,” Ayala said. “We have a strong defense and we’re also going to do well on offense. We will run. We will push the ball and try to get the other team tired. We have depth and we can move guys around to give us a better chance.”

The Dalles endured a lot of emotional ups and downs over the past few campaigns but still remained a family.

That sentiment has spilled over across the roster for 2016. The veterans know what happened and often express those nuggets of knowledge to the younger group.

As of today, the slate is clean for everybody and every match will be tough.

“We have a lot of talent here,” said Bustamante, a first-team midfielder in 2015. “We’re starting to come together as a team. I already kind of know what talent we have on the team, so right now, we’re focused on getting in shape and staying motivated. Then we’re going to get into focusing on the offense and defense.”

The schedule is not easy from the start for the Riverhawks, who start the season at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25 in a daylong jamboree at Century High School.

After that, they play four of their next five games on the road at Parkrose, Mac-Hi, Tualatin and Ridgeview.

Sandwiched between those away contests is a home matchup on Thursday, Sept. 15 against Madras.

Last season, those five teams amassed a 30-33-10 record, with only Ridgeview (5-5-4) and Madras (11-3-2) posting records above .500.

Bustamante is not worried about the schedule to start the season, and said he just wants the team to keep improving until league play starts on Sept. 27 at home against Hermiston.

Defending state champion Hood River Valley remains the top team in the CRC, while Hermiston and Pendleton remain wild cards in the final standings.

Last season, TD nearly earned a play-in berth, but lost on a coin flip, and Pendleton jumped into the postseason.

Like other teams, those programs went through a few changes to their personnel.

Right now, Bustamante is about taking care of business and not worrying about any opponent.

“We just got focus on ourselves improving every day,” Bustamante said. “We need to get better at shooting, passing and everything else. We cannot worry about those other teams because we can go as far as we want as long as we focus on what we need to take care of. It is going to be a fun year. I believe we will do pretty good.”