Jayden Ray (13), of Hermiston, heads the ball as Kamiakin’s Maddie Kutschkau gets ready to change direction during Saturday’s game at Kennison Field.

Hermiston hadn’t faced Kamiakin since the the preseason, when the the Braves handed the Bulldogs a 6-0 loss.

Now, well into Mid-Columbia Conference action, the Dawgs showed signs of improvement against the Braves, even if it wasn’t enough to withstand the league’s third-ranked team.

Kamiakin got half of its points from junior forward Regan Clark on Saturday as the Braves shut out Hermiston 4-0 in a conference matchup at Kennison Field.

“It’s always the little things that get us,” Hermiston coach Freddy Guizar said. “We went from trusting each other to playing selfishly, instead of playing with all 11 players.”

The Braves got on the board just before the 10th minute. Clark got her game started with a shot on goal two minutes later that Hermiston senior keeper Lanie Gomez dived for and missed, but the ball hit the right goal post and kept Hermiston down 1-0.

With 9:34 left in the first half, Braves freshman forward Kate Hollenberg evaded Gomez’s attempted save, but Dawgs sophomore midfielder Sydney Seavert protected the net.

Clark sent another shot on goal in the 32nd minute, and finally connected with the net 2½ minutes later to put the Braves up 2-0.

“Their keeper did a great job today,” Kamiakin coach Chris Erkison said of Gomez.

The Braves took their 2-point lead into the locker room, and got two more goals before the day was up.

“They came out and worked really hard today,” Bulldogs junior midfielder Jayden Ray said of Kamiakin. “Our intensity level was low. We need to look back at this game, analyze it, fix our mistakes, and move forward.”

Nearly 12 minutes would pass in the second half before freshman forward Margot Massey gave Kamiakin its third goal. Gomez recorded another save after defending the net from Clark, but the Kamiakin forward wasn’t finished.

With 4:55 left to play, Clark sent a 25-yard kick sailing into Hermiston’s net for their fourth and final goal of the day. Clark would try to score once more in the final seconds, but Gomez got the save just before the clock ran out.

“They were more organized today,” Erikson said of the Bulldogs.

Although Hermiston allowed two less goals than its last meeting with the Braves, they were unable to record a shot on goal.

“That tells you where we’re at offensively,” Guizar said. “It was the lack of communication that hurt us. We did play a better game, but we are still growing.”

Hermiston (1-9, 1-8 MCC), the eighth-ranked team in MCC play, is on the road Tuesday. They’ll challenge the No. 4-ranked Hanford Falcons in the first meeting of the season between the teams. Game time is at 7 p.m.