SPORTS
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
1B
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HERMISTON
HERMISTON
Spartans extend Dawgs’ struggles
Bulldogs
ready to
defend
their turf
Torres scores fi rst goal
of season as Hillsboro
quiets Hermiston
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
The 2016 season started off
extremely strong for the Hermiston
girls soccer team, winning its fi rst
three games of the season and
outscoring its opponents 9-0 in
doing so.
However, the next three games
haven’t been as positive for the
Bulldogs.
Hermiston lost its third straight
game on Tuesday afternoon as
the Hillsboro Spartans traveled to
Kennison Field and headed home
with a 3-1 victory. The offense was
sputtering for most of the game for
Hermiston (3-3), as the Spartans
controlled the ball and limited the
Bulldogs to just three shots on goal.
“I think we’re doing really
good, but I feel like we can get
kind of nervous and caught up for
moments,” said Hermiston junior
Kali Torres following the game.
Hillsboro (5-1) scored the game’s
fi rst goal just eight minutes in when
Icela Garcia shot it past Hermiston
goalkeeper Kilie Harrison for the
1-0 lead. That score stood for the
fi nal 32 minutes of the half as
Hermiston’s defense tightened up
and kept the Spartans from getting
many good looks at the net. Hermis-
ton’s offense was non-existent in the
fi rst half, registering zero shots and
possessing the ball in Hillsboro’s
zone just two times for minimal
time.
Early into the second half,
Hermiston started to develop some
offensive momentum, pushing the
ball deeper into Hillsboro territory
and getting a few breakaway looks
at the net. The fi rst came in the 47th
minute when Hermiston had a three-
on-two running at the Spartan goal,
but a long dribble by Hermiston’s
Makayla Akers gave the Spartan
goalkeeper enough space to sprint
out and grab the ball just before
Akers got there.
Just fi ve minutes later, Akers
got free again on a long pass from
midfi eld as she split a pair of Spartan
defenders and had a breakaway
chance at the goal. But once again,
Akers dribbled the ball too far out
in front of her and the goalkeeper
once again sprinted out and grabbed
the ball away at the top of the box a
Hermiston hosts
defending 5A
champs Summit
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
For the fi rst two-plus
weeks of the season, the
Hermiston Bulldogs football
team practiced with a bitter
taste in their mouths.
Opening the season with
two straight losses is a tough
pill for any team to swallow,
but with a failed comeback
attempt and a blowout loss
in its fi rst two weeks, Herm-
iston had enough. On Friday
night, the Bulldogs washed
out that bad taste with win
No. 1 on the season with a
35-21 win over the previ-
ously undefeated Mountain
View Cougars.
“The guys were hungry
See BULLDOGS/3B
Football
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
The Bulldogs’ Makayla Akers hurdles the Hillsboro goalie after being beaten to the ball Tuesday in a
girls soccer game at Kennison Field in Hermiston.
mere two steps in front of Akers.
But in the 56th minute, Hermis-
ton’s luck fi nally changed.
The Bulldogs were deep into the
Spartans zone, trying to get some-
thing going to keep the offensive
momentum going in their direction.
That’s when Alysia Garcia dropped
a looping pass into the middle of the
fi eld, where Torres settled the ball
and blasted a kick with her left foot
toward the goal.
“I called for the ball, (Garcia)
dropped it in and it was a perfect set
up,” Torres said. “I couldn’t really
see the goalie, honestly, because the
sun was in my eyes. I’m left footed
so I just kicked it with what ever I
could.”
The ball lofted the air toward the
Spartan goalkeeper, who appeared
to catch the kick with both hands,
but then somehow lost control and
Girls Soccer
Hillsboro
3
Summit
Hermiston
Storm
Bulldogs
(2-1, 1-0)
(1-2, 1-0)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Kennison Field,
Hermiston
• Radio: KOHU 1360 AM
PENDLETON
Hermiston
Bucks
feeling
pressure
1
Hermiston’s
Audrey Lincoln
(6) heads the
ball during
Tuesday’s girls
soccer game
against Hills-
boro at Ken-
nison Field in
Hermiston.
Pendleton calls
game at Ridgeview
a must win
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
See DAWGS/3B
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
Maddy
Juul (14),
of Hermis-
ton, spikes
the ball
Tuesday
as Hood
River’s
Ireland Mc-
Donough
(9) at-
tempts
to block
during a
volleyball
match at
Hermis-
ton High
School.
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
Prep Roundup
Eagles outpace Hermiston netters
Pendleton also
dropped in
CRC volleyball
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — The
Bulldogs netters weren’t
able to keep up with Hood
River Valley in a Columbia
River Conference volleyball
match on Tuesday at The
Dawghouse.
The Eagles bounced
back from their fi rst loss of
the season to take down the
Bulldogs in three games,
25-16, 25-14 and 25-9.
Hermiston (4-6, 1-1 CRC)
struggled to fi nd room at the
net and were led in kills with
two apiece from Maddy Juul
and Hayden Meyers while
Brenna Wadekamper had
fi ve assists. Ebony Wilson
had a pair of blocks. No
statistics were reported for
Hood River (12-1, 2-0).
Hermiston’s next game is
Thursday at 6:30 p.m. when
it hosts Pendleton in the
fi rst meeting of the season
between the rivals.
THE
DALLES
3,
PENDLETON 2 — At
The Dalles, the Buckaroos
played a strong game around
the net but miscues piled up
throughout the match and
helped lead to a fi ve-set loss
on Tuesday night.
“We played an awesome
game at the net tonight,
Maureen Davies really shut
down (The Dalles) offense,”
Pendleton coach Amanda
Lapp said. “(We) had a hard
time picking up the little
things coming over the net
tonight. The Dalles was
good about making sure no
matter what the ball was
coming over (the net) and
we couldn’t always pick up
the pieces.”
Our entire offense really
had a great night tonight,
The Dalles was just always
right there to pick up the ball
and send it back.”
Pendleton started the
match off with a 25-20
See PREPS/2B
It’s just four weeks into
the 2016 football season, but
the Pendleton Buckaroos are
already speaking impera-
tively.
“I just truly believe that
this is a must-win game
for us to move toward our
goals,” said head coach Erik
Davis of Friday’s Special
District 1 game at Ridgeview
(1-2, 1-0 SD1).
The Bucks are looking to
See BUCKS/3B
Football
Pendleton
Ridgeview
Buckaroos
Ravens
(1-2, 0-1)
(1-2, 1-0)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Ridgeview High School,
Redmond
• Radio: KTIX 1240 AM
Sports shorts
Tebow homers in batting practice
US out at World Cup of Hockey
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Tim Tebow
says he’s just trying to get better each day in the
New York Mets’ instructional league.
After two days, so far, so good.
Tebow homered to right during batting practice
on Tuesday, one day after the
quarterback-turned-baseball-hopeful
put three balls off the fence at the
Mets’ training complex. A Mets’
staff member went behind the fence
a few minutes later and returned with
a baseball, though it wasn’t clear if it
Tebow
was the actual one Tebow hit.
“Felt a little more comfortable
with a day under my belt, just getting more used to
everything, the preparations,” said Tebow, the 2007
Heisman Trophy winner from Florida and former
NFL quarterback. “All those silly things that you
have to go through, right? Getting in the building,
fi nding everything that you need, cafeteria,
everything, and just getting used to the routine.”
TORONTO (AP) — Patrick Kane was on
the verge of tears as the fi nal horn sounded on
another American loss to Canada.
A 4-2 wipeout eliminated the United States
from the World Cup of Hockey
on Tuesday night, ending what
was perhaps the best chance for
this generation of players to win
an international competition.
Instead, the U.S. fl amed out in
two games, leaving disappoint-
ment, frustration and plenty of questions about
the direction of the program.
In the aftermath of a dominant, clinical
performance by the tournament favorite, and a
lackluster showing by the U.S., top players were
shell-shocked by the early exit.
“Two games here and you’re done,” said
Kane, who doesn’t have a goal in nine consec-
utive games in a Team USA uniform. “It’s just
amazing. It’s crazy the way hockey is.”
“He asked me, ‘Why
you looking at me?’ I
asked him why he was
looking at me.“
— Yasiel Puig
Professional baseball player for
the Los Angeles Dodgers on his
stare down with San Francisco
Giants pitcher Madison Bumgar-
ner that resulted in the benches
clearing during Tuesday’s game.
The Dogers won 2-1.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1940 — For the fi rst time
in the history of photo fi nishes
a triple dead heat for fi rst place
is recorded, at Willow’s Park,
Victoria, British Columbia.
1985 — Montana State’s
David Pandt catches 21
passes for 169 yards against
Eastern Washington to set an
NCAA record.
1997 — The Buffalo Bills
stage the third-biggest come-
back in NFL history, over-
coming a 26-0 defi cit to beat
the Indianapolis Colts 37-35.
The Bills made the greatest
comeback in the 1992 AFC
playoffs, wiping out a 35-3
defi cit to beat the Houston
Oilers 41-38 in overtime.
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