Three-win week sees RHS boys’ soccer team improve to 8-3-1

The Russellville High School varsity boys’ soccer team won all three of its matches last week, improving to 8-3-1 overall and staying a perfect 5-0 in area play. 

The Golden Tigers jumped into the outright lead in the race for the area title, knocking off rivals West Point 3-1 on March 11 and Brewer 4-1 on March 15. Sandwiched in between those two big area contests was a revenge game against West Morgan which Russellville won 2-1.

“This doesn’t guarantee we win (the area) but it puts us in a really good position,” Russellville head coach Trey Stanford said after the Brewer win. “I’m looking forward to hopefully getting a few more (area wins) and getting our fourth area championship in a row.”

Coming off a disappointing home loss in their previous game against West Morgan on March 5, the Golden Tigers responded and got back to winning ways with a solid 3-1 road victory over West Point. Russellville held a seven-goal advantage over the Warriors from the two teams’ previous meeting so Stanford used the game to rest starters and any players nursing injuries.

“Those (injured) guys didn’t play at all. They didn’t step on the field,” Stanford said. “We came out and scored three goals in the first half. In the second half we let the subs play a lot, and West Point scored a goal, but I wasn’t too worried about it. I wasn’t risking somebody getting injured in that game.”

Brian Lara scored one of Russellville’s goals with Erik Jacobo adding two more for his second brace this year. Lara and Jacobo finished the week with a joint team-high 10 goals.

The following night, Russellville stayed on the road and traveled to West Morgan, looking to avenge a 1-0 home loss to the Rebels from the last time the two sides met. 

“The first time we played them we played absolutely horrendous,” Stanford said. “It was one of the worst performances I’ve seen since I’ve been here and I told them that. So we talked about it and went through quite a few things honestly.”

“They beat us here (at home) and we talked about how…that’s not cool, you know? We needed to have more pride in ourselves.”

Stanford’s team talk appeared to do the trick. Russellville jumped out to a two-goal lead in the first half with goals scored by Manny Martinez and Jacobo. West Morgan pulled one back in the final 40 minutes but the Golden Tigers held on to keep the result in the win column.

“West Morgan is a really talented team. They have a chance, I think, this year to make it to the finals,” Stanford said. “I feel like we played really well. We played solid in the first half, and we kind of fell off in the second half a little bit, gave up a goal, but it was a good night. Our guys stepped up to the challenge, again, understanding we have to come to play all the time in every game.”

The week ended with the match Stanford had circled on the calendar since the start of the season: Brewer.

“Last year, Brewer gave us fits,” Stanford said back on Feb. 13 after Russellville’s first match.

“Brewer is extremely talented. I’ve been watching them very closely this year,” Stanford said following his team’s win over Lawrence County on Feb. 26. “Their coach and I are good friends, he’s a good dude, and he does a great job with their program with what he’s got. They’ve got a center (midfielder) that can absolutely play.”

Like Russellville, Brewer, as predicted by Stanford, came into the game with a flawless area record. The winner would be in the driver’s seat on the road to the area title.

“We’ll have to play very well to win the region this year and, luckily, we get them here first when we play them,” Stanford added earlier in the season.

It was another prediction the Golden Tiger head coach nailed, but the much-anticipated match really could not have gone much better than Stanford imagined. 

An early Russellville goal relieved some of the built-up pressure leading into the game. Just 10 minutes in, Brian Lara, staring down a free kick from outside the box, smashed the ball past the rooted Patriots goalkeeper, giving the Golden Tigers an early 1-0 advantage. 

Russellville took the lead into the halftime break and then added three more in the second half to assure the result the Golden Tigers were looking for. Three minutes after the intermission, a sublime cross from Hailezgy Tekle found Manny Martinez, who, after missing out multiple games to injury, was back in the side and scored an easy tap-in past the keeper. 

“(Crosses) were something we worked on multiple times this last week and the week before,” Stanford said. “They crossed the ball well and they laid it up to each other and they were loving it.”

In the 47th minute, it was Martinez again who received a perfectly weighted through ball past the Patriot defense and, using the outside of his boot, curled his shot past the goalie.

“My favorite part of the match was after we scored we were loving on each other,” Stanford said. “Everybody was hugging each other, high-fiving each other. There wasn’t any selfishness.”

Down 3-0, Brewer took advantage of some disarray at the back to pull a goal back in the second half, but a late penalty awarded to Russellville and put away swiftly by Tekle ended all hopes of a comeback by the visitors.

“It was an emotional match, but, man, it’s good to get a 4-1 win and…finish shots we’re supposed to finish and just finish out a game. I’m really proud of that,” Stanford said.

The win by itself was massive for the Golden Tigers’ ambitions of the area crown, but the three-goal differential gives Russellville even another edge when the second leg is played at Brewer.

“Beating them by three goals is big,” Stanford said. “It’s going to be tough for them to beat us by four goals. Even if we have a bad night, four goals in 80 minutes is a lot of goals. Can it happen at their place? Absolutely. Are they going to come out even hungrier? Absolutely. But it’s huge for us getting that big of a score(line) against a talented team.”

No doubt the result is a big boost to Russellville’s hopes of at least one championship this season, but Stanford added maybe—just maybe—the win will also serve as a warning shot across the bow of all the doubters.

“I’ve seen some of the comments posted and that’s fine. That’s what keeps sports, in general, exciting, you know? That’s what’s fun about it,” he said. “But, you know, after this win right here maybe everybody will realize, ‘hmmm, crap, they are pretty good.’”