The harder it rained, the better they played.
The Republic soccer Tigers controlled possession through on-again, off-again rain in the opening half, but failed to take the lead on West Plains in their district semifinal. But when the rain intensified in the second half, so did the Republic offense, resulting Republic’s first ever playoff victory, 4-1 over the Zizzers.
In a physical game that featured three yellow cards –– two against West Plains –– Republic broke through in the 46th minute. It started with Dylan Brown’s goal on a through ball, and from there, the Tigers took charge. Thirteen minutes later, Brown picked up the first of his two assists, punching in a free kick that Julio Quezada bodied into the net to make it 2-0.
“The trick is to try to get your guys playing their best the last couple games. If there was ever a game for Dylan Brown to step up and play, it was this one,” says coach David Ashby. “This was definitely his…most complete performance. He worked his tail off.”
In the 69th minute, Quezada scored his second goal off a throw-in, essentially putting the game out of reach. Republic scored its final goal on a cross from Brown to Armando Hurtado, who put the ball into the net. West Plains scored a single goal in the final minute of the game to make the final score 4-1.
“To get that win, to get that monkey off our back and get the first (playoff) win for our program, that’s a pretty special feeling,” says Ashby. He believes the Tigers can build on it as they play for a district title on Thursday against Glendale.
“It wasn’t the cleanest soccer that we’ve ever played. The weather conditions were a little sloppy. The field didn’t help out a whole lot. But we’re hopefully going to play a lot smarter, play a lot cleaner come Thursday,” he says. “It’s a tough mountain to climb. It’s do-able. We can beat Glendale. I know we can. I believe in my guys. We have in the tools in the toolbox to go out there and win this game.”