Redlands FC went wire-to-wire in their 7-0 victory over the SoCal Eagles in a must win game Saturday night.
Redlands wasted no time getting going, as in the first minute they earned a corner kick that Troy Elgersma headed in to give the home side their first goal.
Around 3 minutes later, Wyatt Ponting received a through ball and capitalized by sending one past the keeper to make it 2-0 in just the 5th minute.
The Eagles finally started settling down in the final minutes, and went back and forth with Redlands for the remainder of the half with neither team posing any real threat. Redlands took their 2-0 lead into halftime and were 45 minutes away from a huge 3 points.
Something magical about the opening minutes of halves for Redlands continued in half number two, when in the 47th minute Redlands scoring leader Javier Hernandez went on a run and received a nice through ball before tucking one away to make it 3-0.
Redlands continued to put pressure on the Eagles defense for the next 15 minutes, and in the 68th minute USL2 Team of the Month member received an excellent pass from Troy Elgersma after a fight for the ball to make it 4-0.
Three minutes later, Elgersma earned himself a brace off a foul that led to a free kick and a red card that sent the Eagles down to 10 men. It concluded a 3 point night for the Redlands native and made it 5-0.
Samuel Addo made it a touchdown and kicked the extra point for Redlands, earning himself a brace and settling the final scoreline at 7-0.
The win now sets up what may be Redlands FC’s biggest regular season game ever, as they will travel to Ventura County to face the Fusion on July 9th. A win moves them into 2nd place in the Southwest Division and one victory (or possibly a draw depending on other division results) away from the playoffs, while a loss could eliminate them altogether
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.
