The Dripping Springs Tiger boys soccer team advanced in the playoffs in dominant fashion following a 6-0 bi-district round win over the San Antonio Harlandale Indians Friday.
Dripping Springs (15-3-7) held the upper hand early and began to put together offensive runs against Harlandale; the first few attempts were unsuccessful. Following a well-defended run, the Tigers were awarded a corner kick. Following some trickery and deception by the Tigers, Dripping Springs’ Max Gonzales was set up perfectly for the match’s first goal.
Coming Up
Dripping Springs advanced to play Eagle Pass Winn High in the area round Tuesday. Winner of that contest takes on the winner of Kerrville Tivy or San Antonio Harlan in the third round of the playoffs.
The Tigers, who led 1-0, kept up the pressure throughout the early minutes of the match. Ten minutes later, Ken Gossett took a deflected ball and laced it into the net from 20 yards out for the Tigers’ second goal. The Tigers got into an offensive rhythm from there, aided by Tiger Desi De La Cruz, who tallied the team’s third goal with 15 minutes left before intermission.
Dripping Springs led 3-0 at halftime and kept up the pace in the second half.
Dripping Springs scored three goals over the span of 15 minutes of play, all coming off of crosses into the 18-yard box that were knocked in by headers.
Tigers Juan Galindo and Hernan Casanova scored a goal each during the span. Head coach Josh Hill emphasized this was part of the Tigers’ attack and was pleased with the team’s performance there.
“That’s just what we do well,” Hill said. “We had a lot of good chances.”
The Tigers won the match 6-0 and claimed the bi-district championship. Hill felt his team did not back down from the playoff atmosphere and rose to the occasion.
“You could tell the first few minutes we were nervous, but we settled down,” Hill said. “I was pleased with how we played. Good energy, good effort, and got a great result.”
