RABBITTOWN — Sergio Turcios has pulled off the early playoff hat trick for the East Hall boys soccer team.
Three playoff matches, three hat tricks. The latest coming Saturday as the speedy sophomore forward led the Vikings to a 6-0 victory over Tattnall County in the quarterfinals of the Class AAA playoffs.
But while Turcios is certainly the fuel for the Vikings’ offensive engine, coach Chris Horton said its balance is what drives them.
“Our defensive game is working so well right now it’s giving the offense a chance to push forward and put pressure on the other teams,” Horton said. “One of our goals is to ‘use all 10’and I think we’ve been able to do that. Sergio is getting a lot of opportunities because we have a lot of different players that can create and score.”
The Vikings (17-4) have been fortunate to keep their starting 10 in tact for most of the season and all 10 have recorded at least one goal and one assist during the season.
“You don’t see a lot of teams have that kind of balance. I think that is what makes us hard to defend,” Horton said.
It didn’t take long for the Vikings, and Turcios in particular, to get going. Turcios gathered in a long ball from Giezi Barrientos and completed a 20-yard run beating Warriors keeper Draven Scoot low on the left side for a 1-0 lead just five minutes in.
The match settled into a midfield battle for the next 18 minutes until East Hall added on. Jairo Valdez netted a controversial breakaway goal off a deflection from a Tattnall defender for a 2-0 advantage with 27:18 left in the half.
Valdez appeared to be behind three Tattnall defenders when he got control of a chip pass with the sideline referee signalling offsides. But he was overruled by the head referee as the play continued leaving Valdez with an easy chip shot past Scott.
That ignited a flurry of potential chances for the Vikings as they tried to breakdown the Warriors defensive trap. The Vikings were called for a half-dozen offsides by mere inches that would have had attackers with clear grass for breakaways.
Any chance Tattnall County had for a comeback was thwarted by Turcios. Turcios, on perhaps his best shot of the match, gave the Vikings a 3-0 lead with a wind-aided bender just over Scott’s outstretched hands from 40-yards out.
Turcios sealed it just 25 seconds into the second half taking a feed from Brandon Callahan and blasted a shot past Scott to push the lead to 4-0.
After being denied on a point-blank shot 10 minutes later, Carlos Castrejon got another chance a minute later. Castrejon extended the lead to 5-0 tallying a goal on a penalty kick after Valdez was taken down in the box.
Callahan capped the scoring with 6:48 left converting his own PK after a handball denied him on a point-blank range shot.
The Vikings dominated the Warriors with 19 shots to just seven.Scott finished with six saves while Vikings’ keeper Oscar Rosas recorded five.
East Hall next will take on Pace Academy, which knocked off North Murray 2-1 on Saturday, in the semifinals on Tuesday. The Vikings won a coin flip for home field advantage and will play host at 7 p.m. with a spot in the championship match on the line.
It will be the third consecutive semifinal appearance for the Vikings, who lost to Decatur in last year’s Class AAA state title match. Horton hopes they will have the experience factor on their side.
“I think having (Final Four) experience should help,” he said. “Most of our guys were there last year. But, it’s going to be the toughest match we’ve had in the playoffs so far for sure.”
