Julio Quezada scored in the opening minute, and Republic never looked back in a 4-2 home win over Springfield Central. Quezada’s goal came on the opening charge by Republic. He took the ball in on the right side, and crossed it into the far side of the net just 36 seconds into the game to give Republic the lead.
Republic made it 2-0 when Mitchell Heinzler took a corner kick from Tanner Peabody that skidded along the ground, and deflected it into the net past Central’s goalkeeper.
Central cut the lead to 2-1 before halftime, but Republic extended the lead again in the second half when David Alvarado scored on an assist by Sam Heinzler to make it 3-1. Another Central goal got them in striking distance, but Quezada finished the scoring on a penalty kick around the eight minute mark.
“For the first 20 minutes I was pretty pleased,” says coach Mike Hines. “After we went up 2-0, it looked like we were a little flat. We were playing just well enough to stay ahead of the game. We’re trying to put together 80 minutes of consistent effort, and that’s hard to do.”
Hines says the fast start is a new trend for his team.
“At the beginning of the season, we were a second half team. now we’re coming out pretty quick and we’re having difficulty sustaining that,” he says.
Republic improves to 5-5. They are back in action Thursday at Marshfield with a chance to go above .500 for the first time in the program’s history.
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