The Russellville High School varsity boys’ soccer team improved to 10-3-1 after dispatching the East Limestone Indians 10-2 at home on Thursday night.
Led by a pair of hat tricks from Brian Lara and Erik Jacobo, four different players found themselves on the scoresheet in the No. 7 Golden Tigers’ victory, their fifth in-a-row.
“(East Limestone) is not a bad team, they’re really not. We just played really well tonight,” Russellville head coach Trey Stanford said. “We had several guys scoring and passing the ball well.”
Manny Martinez opened up the scoring, grabbing his goal in the third minute with an assist by Cristian Figueroa. Unfortunately for the Golden Tigers, Martinez was forced to exit the game early with an ankle injury. It’s a setback Stanford hopes will be a minor one.
“He opened up right out of the gate scoring, and he’s just a scorer. He’s one of the best finishers I’ve ever coached,” Stanford said. “I really, really hope he’s okay…he said he felt like he was going to be okay, so we’ll see what happens come (the next game) Tuesday.”
A few minutes after Martinez’s opener, Brian Lara bagged back-to-back goals in the 10th and 17th minutes to put Russellville up 3-0. Then it was Erik Jacobo’s turn. He scored in the 19th and 25th minute to make it 5-0, Golden Tigers. Both players would get their third goal in the second half.
Hailezgy Tekle got in on the action, as well. Tekle scored Russellville’s final goal of the first half in the 38th minute. He would go on to score again in the 53rd minute, and he assisted on both of Lara’s and Jacobo’s hat trick goals in the second half.
Figueroa, who assisted on the first goal of the game, was the fourth Golden Tiger to score. He netted his goal in the 54th minute.
“Personally, I feel like our patience tonight was what was really making us look like we were really getting after it because we were stretching them defensively and they were coming after us and then the next thing you know we’re gone,” Stanford said. “We have four or five or six pass combinations that were setting up beautiful crosses that our guys were finishing, running through the goal.
“I was proud of them. We haven’t passed like that probably all year, so that’s something I’m really proud of them for, and we’ve been doing a good job of getting better at it.”
Russellville’s win comes after a fairly long break between matches. The Golden Tigers last hit the pitch two weeks earlier on March 21 when they beat Lawrence County on Senior Night. Coming out of spring break Russellville was supposed to play Florence on Tuesday, but that match was postponed due to the threat of severe weather.
“We were going to play Florence on Tuesday right out of the break and, honestly, I don’t think we were ready for it,” Stanford said. “That break was rough on them, so the Lord blessed us with a couple extra days and we put in a little more running and possession training. It was good for us to get those extra days.”
Russellville still has games left to play, and a fourth consecutive area title is still in the balance, but the postseason is looming ever larger. All season Stanford has consistently stated his belief in his team. Now with the regular season nearing a conclusion he’s hoping his team is starting to believe in themselves, too.
“When we play like we did tonight, like how we’re capable of playing, there’s not a team that we can’t play with. That’s the thing. That’s what we’re trying to get these guys to understand and believe. I don’t want to jinx myself but it seems like tonight they’re kind of starting to understand it and believe it,” Stanford said.
“We’ve got plenty of time and a lot of games left—a lot of big games left. We’ve got Grissom, we’ve got Tanner, we’ve got Florence and we’ve got Brewer, so a lot of important games left. So it’s exciting because it’s put up or shut up time,” he added. “I talked to a couple of coaches the other day on the phone and they were telling me that’s an intense schedule remaining, you know? And I was like heck, what else do you want going into the playoffs? You want to play as good of competition as you can so come playoff time it makes it easier. These guys know that after spring break it’s on and I think they’re excited about the future.”
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