Redlands FC took care of business Saturday night as they throttled last place Coachella SC 14-0, with 8 different players finding the back of the net.
The action started early, as in the 5th minute Luka Lukic scored the first goal of the game. Lukic nearly had his second 3 minutes later but a save was made to keep things at 1-0. Just a minute later though, a poor clearance attempt by Coachella led to a goal by Javier Hernandez, marking yet another game where the Redlands forward duo both scored goals.
Coachella finally found some offensive momentum in the 12th minute but Redlands starting keeper Tony Flores made a great stop to maintain his squads 2 goal lead. Redlands would send two more shots on net that were just cleared off the line over the course of the next 15 minutes, before finally scoring again in the 34th minute via Julian Borja. The goal marks Borja’s first of the season.
Redlands were not done yet, as they scored 2 more goals moments before stoppage time, one from Javier Hernandez to give himself a brace and one by Andrew Portis off of a corner kick. Redlands went into the locker room with their largest halftime lead of the season at 5-0.
The offensive dominance continued for Redlands in the second half, as Javier Hernandez completed his hat trick in the 48th minute, Lukic got his second in the 55th, Wyatt Ponting got his first in the 58th, and Luka Lukic secured a hat trick of his own in the 66th minute.
Redlands made it double digit goals just a minute later when Jose De La Torre also got his first goal. They then made it 12-0 as yet another substitute Samuel Addo scored along with Andrew Portis getting his second. 13 then became a lucky number for the away side as Redlands native Cody Bell scored. Redlands kicked the extra point to finish it off with one last goal from Wyatt Ponting. The final whistle blew moments after, and 14-0 was the final scoreline.
The win secures another 3 points for Redlands as they move into sole possession of 3rd place in the Southwest Division table based on points per game, just waiting for one of Ventura County or FC Tucson to drop points and open the door for them to enter a playoff position. Redlands returns to action on Wednesday June 11th to take on the SoCal Eagles in a game that was rescheduled from June 4th. It will mark game 4 of their 5 game road trip.
Caden Henderson has been a journalist since he was five. He has interviewed athletes like Mike Trout. Caden is pursuing a degree at the University of Redlands. He is also the voice of Redlands FC.
