GAINESVILLE — Pedro Arroyo recorded a hat trick as Class 4A No. 5 East Hall held off No. 7 Chestatee, 3-0, in a key Region 8-4A match Tuesday at the Lynn Cottrell Complex.
Arroyo scored once in the first half with 14:40 left and twice in the second half, including a penalty kick, as the Vikings (9-1-1, 4-0 Region 8-4A) won their sixth straight match overall -- fifth straight by shutout -- to remain atop the region standings.
East Hall coach Mark Wade said his group is finding its groove for sure.
“We’re playing well right now,” Wade said. “(Chestatee) had gotten us the last couple of years and being a region game this was a real good win for us.”
Speed was the difference as East Hall just seemed quicker to the ball throughout.
For the War Eagles (6-3-0, 1-2 Region 8-4A) it was their third loss in four matches and kept them in fifth place for the moment. But long-time coach Mike Herrin was not overly worried despite losing seeing their bid at a region title possibly slip away.
“We’ve played a very tough non-region schedule and it’s a tough region,” Herrin said. “We may have seen our chances at a (region) title kind demish with this one. East Hall was good tonight. They have some speedy guys and you have to give them credit. But I thought we had some chances and just couldn’t finish.”
The Vikings controlled much of the action in the first half. They forced a corner in the opening 45 seconds and two more in the first seven minutes.
But the War Eagles defense held firm allowing just one official shot on goal during that span. Chestatee keeper Bryan Duran kept it scoreless with a tremendous kick save in the 20th minute on a 5-yard blast.
East Hall had two corners to none for Chestatee in the first 20 minutes. Chestatee’s first real chance came in the 23rd minute on a left-footed shot from Angel Mejia from 20-yards that Vikings keeper Walter Bran corralled.
The game turned into a midfield battle for the next three minutes until East Hall finally struck. Arroyo roped a 25-yard direct kick shot past a diving Duran to give the Vikings a 1-0 lead.
“That kind of got us going a little bit,” Wade said.
The War Eagles mounted two late runs just before the half but could not get the equalizer before the horn.
Chestatee had two corners in the opening 10 minutes of the second half but could not muster a shot on goal. Jonathan Torres-Cruz had a chance to tie the game but his blast in the 53rd minute sailed high.
It again turned into a battle of counter-attacks until Arroyo netted his second goal on a rebound off the crossbar after a long free kick with just under 25 minutes left. He added the PK goal with 13:43 left to essentially seal the match.
Wade said the Vikings are now set up for a run at the region title next week with home matches against North Oconee and Flowery Branch. But they would need to sweep to clinch outright.
“Our goal was to try to get to the final week of region play with a chance (at the region title) and we’ve given ourselves that chance,” Wade said. “Next week will probably decide things.”
EAST HALL GIRLS 2,
CHESTATEE 1 (2-1 PK)
The Lady Vikings won their second straight Region 8-4A match in dramatic fashion as keeper Makelvia Holder made three saves in the penalty kick round to help preserve the win.
Athziri Roman and Yennifer Gomez both scored in the PK phase for East Hall (4-8, 2-2 Region 8-4A). Chestatee keeper Kiki Abercrombie made a pair of saves in the PK round as well but Gomez got the eventual game-winner on the Lady Vikings final attempt.
Chestatee (1-9-2, 0-4 Region 8-4A) got a goal from Hailey Cliche to open the PK round but Holder made three consecutive saves and Brianna Sanchez’s attempt in the final slot sailed high to give East Hall the win.
It was a scoreless first half but both teams had chances. The Lady Vikings had five shots on goal but Abercrombie was equal to each attempt, including a near-point blank stop in the 25th minute.
Chestatee managed just four shots with Holder handling each shot. The Lady War Eagles had two potential breakaways but the Lady Vikings backline was able to recover in time to deny any clear shots.
Cliche broke the scoreless tie in the 45th minute with a rebound shot from inside 10 yards to give Chestatee a 1-0 lead early in the second half.
East Hall’s best chance early came in the 60th minute when Abercrombie was unable to cleanly clear a bouncing ball into the box. But the Lady Vikings shot from just outside the box sailed inches high to preserve the Lady War Eagles’ slim lead.
An East Hall corner in the 70th minute did not produce a shot but two minutes later Jade Vasquez blasted a 30-yard shot past Abercrombie to tie the game at 1-1 with 7:30 left.
Both teams stayed on the attack. Chestatee twice got inside the box but Holder denied each and the Lady Vikings’ Destiny Estudillo had a 6-yard one-on-one with Abercrombie with less than two minutes remaining but Abercrombie’s diving save eventually sent it to overtime.
In the first overtime, Cliche had a wide-open look in the opening minute but Holder was able to snag it up high to keep it tied.
With 5:51 left in the first overtime Gomez had a chance to give the Lady Vikings the lead with a penalty kick, but her shot sailed high. East Hall had another golden chance a minute later but Chestatee’s Amy Davila cleared a bouncing ball at the goal line that had gotten past Abercrombie.
