BOARDMAN — Since winning the 3A/2A/1A boys soccer title in 2017, Riverside’s path to another championship has been blocked by its nemesis, Oregon Episcopal School.

The Pirates had strong teams, but lost to OES in the 2018 semifinals and 2019 quarterfinals. They even dropped nonleague games to the Aardvarks in both seasons.

So Riverside – which didn’t meet OES in the COVID-19-shortened spring schedule – took great satisfaction when it opened the season Aug. 27 with a 3-1 home win over the Aardvarks, the state runners-up in 2018 and 2019 and the No. 1 team in the OSAAtoday preseason 3A/2A/1A coaches poll.

“A lot of our guys were freshmen and sophomores those years, and now that they’re seniors, it’s kind of like payback time,” said Riverside coach Jose Duenas, whose team is No. 4 in the coaches poll. “We were ready. We knew we couldn’t put our guard down at any minute because OES is OES.”

It was the perfect way to start a season filled with promise for the Pirates, who improved to 4-0 after beating Portland Christian 8-0 on Sept. 14.

“We felt like all the hard work that they’ve been doing in the offseason on their own, and a lot of conditioning, that whole week we grinded, was for one reason, and that was to win,” Duenas said.

The Pirates graduated high-scoring forward Gerardo Lopez, but have plenty of experience with nine seniors on their roster, including five four-year varsity players in midfielders Adair Rodriguez, Erick Zavala, Diego Magana and Jose Napoles and defender Humberto Sanchez.

The attack is adjusting to the loss of Lopez.

“We lost a really good forward up top, but everybody stepped up,” Duenas said. “As a coach, that’s what you want. You want your full team focused and playing as one. I think losing him, it was like a silver lining.”

Senior midfielder Pablo Claustro scored twice and freshman forward Darek Castaneda had a goal in an earlier win over OES. Napoles and sophomore forward Wyatt Browne scored as Riverside beat McLoughlin, avenging a loss from the spring. Sophomore Juan Medina was the goalkeeper in both matches.

Sanchez anchors a defensive line that includes Benny Sanchez and Ivan Franco, seniors who joined the team in the spring after not playing since youth soccer.

“They were really rusty,” Duenas said. “They put in the work out of the season on their own, and they sharpened up their tools, and right now they’re at a really good level.”

Rodriguez is the team’s emotional leader.

“He doesn’t give up,” Duenas said. “Losing is not in his vocabulary. He has high standards for everyone. If he has to put someone in their spot, he puts them in their spot.”

Duenas, a 2003 Riverside graduate, is in his third season as the team’s coach. He joined the coaching staff as an assistant to Francisco Velasquez in 2015 and was part of the 2017 team that won the school’s second state championship. The other title was in 2011.

“That was a big team with a lot of seniors,” Duenas said of 2017. “So we knew not to have high expectations for at least a couple years. The following year after that was just rebuild, start from scratch. We’re building momentum now.”

Riverside will play at two-time defending state champion Catlin Gabel on Sept. 18. The Eagles are ranked No. 2.