Woodburn Independent Online

Winning streak alive at five for Woodburn girls

• By: Garrett Rudolph  
• Published: 9/29/2009 1:43:33 PM
• Last Updated: 9/30/2009 4:00:21 PM

Photo By: Garrett RudolphThe road to victory
Woodburn senior Clarissa Mendoza (right) collides with a pair of Madras defenders trying to make a play during the Bulldogs’ 10-2 win on Saturday at Woodburn High School.

WOODBURN — With the Mid-Willamette Conference season just around the corner, the Woodburn girls soccer team is blowing away its competition.
 
Last week, the Bulldogs defeated Marshall, Crook County and Madras to stretch their winning streak to five games, with just one match remaining before the league opener, Oct. 6 at West Albany.
 
While all of Woodburn’s wins this season have come against winless opponents, this stretch represents the Bulldogs’ longest winning streak since the creation of the 5A classification prior to the 2006 season.
 
On Tuesday, against Marshall (0-3-1), seven different Woodburn players scored goals as the Bulldogs won in a 12-0 rout. Senior Clarissa Mendoza led the team with five goals, while sophomore Gabriela Vazquez was the only other Woodburn player with multiple goals, scoring twice.
 
Woodburn kept the momentum Wednesday against Crook County (0-5-0), as Vazquez scored in the first minute. However, the Cowgirls responded with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead, before Vazquez tied the game with her second score.
 
In the second half, Woodburn took the lead and sealed the win with a pair goals by Debbie Cabrales and Tanya Quinones in a span of just one minute, giving the Bulldogs a 4-2 win.
 
On Saturday, against Madras, the story of the game was Gabriela Vazquez and freshman Cindy Vazquez, who combined to scored nine goals.
 
After holding a 5-2 lead at halftime, Gabriela scored three more goals and Cindy added two more, as the Bulldogs had tallied a 10-2 win. For the game, Gabriela scored six goals, giving her a total of 10 goals in the three-game stretch. Cindy scored three goals, giving her four in the week.
 
This Saturday, Woodburn (5-1-0) will play on the road against The Dalles-Wahtonka (5-2-0) in the preseason finale.
 
Next, the question will be whether or not the Bulldogs can continue winning against league opponents, as they face a perennial playoff team in West Albany right out of the gates.
 
In three years since the creation of the Mid-Willamette Conference, the same four teams have qualified for the state playoffs every single season — West Albany, Crescent Valley, Corvallis and Silverton. So far, this year, West Albany (5-1-0) and Crescent Valley (4-1-0) have been dominant in the preseason, while Silverton (2-4-0) and Corvallis (1-4-0) have struggled to notch wins.

  (log in to rate)