Riverside’s Darek Castaneda (30) fights for control of the ball with Dayton’s Andres Guzman. The Riverside Pirates fell 2-1 to the Dayton Pirates Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in the semifinal round of the OSAA Class 3A/2A/1A State Soccer Championship at Riverside High School in Boardman.

BOARDMAN — Riverside’s run to the finals came to an end Tuesday, Nov. 9, with a 2-1 loss to Dayton in the 3A/2A/1A state soccer semifinals.

Dayton took a 2-1 lead at the half, then held on to upset the No. 3-ranked Pirates.

“They weren’t better than us,” Riverside coach Juan Duenas said. “We had too many mistakes all game that all season we never had.”

No. 7-ranked Dayton will play top-ranked Catlin Gabel on Saturday in the championship game.

Dayton scored its two goals inside the first 14 minutes of the game to take a 2-0 lead. Pablo Claustro scored for the Pirates in the 30th minute, but that would be it.

“We had two mistakes back to back,” Duenas said. “That’s not like us.”

Sophomore goalkeeper Juan Medina finished with three saves for the Pirates.

The Pirates, who finished the season with a 15-2 record, won the Eastern Oregon League title with an 8-0 record. Other than their loss to Dayton, they dropped a nonleague game to Catlin Gable on Sept. 18.

In the state playoffs, Riverside opened with an 8-0 victory over Sutherlin, then beat Pleasant Hill 4-1 to reach the semifinals.

“We lost key players in the spring, but the players worked on their own, and worked hard,” Duenas said. “When the season started, they had one thing in common — let’s get this title.”