Hernandez’s hat trick lifts Larkin over Elgin
It was a high-scoring Senior Night for the Larkin Royals boys soccer team against their crosstown rivals.
The Royals (11-4-4, 2-0-2) defeated the Elgin Maroons 6-0 in their annual crosstown showdown at Memorial Field at Elgin High School on Tuesday in Upstate Eight Conference River Division action.
The lone goal in the first half came from Mattias Warren in the first minute of play but the Royals’ offense would explode for 5 goals in the second half, including 3 by Tony Hernandez, giving him his first hat trick.
“I couldn’t ask for more,” said Hernandez. “My first hat trick against our biggest rival. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels good.”
“It was the way he controlled,” Larkin head coach Ken Hall said of Hernandez. “He stopped (Elgin’s Josue Chavez), who I think is their best player. I think (Hernandez) played better than him and he won a lot of balls from him, so I think that was the key. We want him to control the midfield and make nice passes, and score when he gets nice opportunities.”
Hernandez opened the second half with his first goal in the first minute of play. Tony Escamilla followed 5 minutes later with a goal of his own, and Hernandez would score his next 2 goals with 24:17 and 8:41 on the clock to give the Royals a 5-0 lead. Chris Villalobos capped it off with a goal with 4:14 left to go to secure the 6-0 victory.
“The fact that it was Elgin did not allow us to drop our intensity,” Hall. “There’s been four or five games where we scored in the first five minutes and our intensity really dropped, so that was the first thing I was afraid of. Seeing that it was Elgin, they obviously didn’t do that and they kept going.”
The Maroons (8-6-5, 2-2-1) only gave up the one goal in the first half, but the costly mistakes started taking a toll on them in the second half.
“They capitalized on our mistakes,” said Elgin head coach Dave Borg. “We didn’t come ready to play, and I take responsibility for that. We weren’t doing things like we do when we play well, and hopefully we can forget about it and move on. Personally, I want to see them again in the playoffs. I want a second chance.”