Republic’s resurgence rolled on Monday night with a 2–0 win over Camdenton, the Tigers’ third straight shutout and third consecutive victory after enduring a four-match scoring drought earlier this month.
Senior forward Will Pinnell, recovered from injury, delivered both goals to spark the offense. Pinnell struck first in the 28th minute of the opening half, finishing off a feed from Maddox Aldridge. He added his second less than six minutes into the second half, this time on a pass from Isaiah Redman. Pinnell’s night marked his first two goals of the season.
“It feels really good,” Pinnell said. “I feel like I’ve broken through the mental part of it, coming back from an injury. The team also played really good passes, and they allowed me to get those goals, so props to them.”
Coach Jesus Zuniga credited a recent shift in formation and improved ball movement for the offensive spark. “Just passing and moving, finding some spaces,” he said. “We tried a new formation about two to three weeks ago, and with how busy and stacked our schedule’s been, we haven’t had time to really practice it. Now we’ve gone three practices under our belt with that formation, just really working on movement of the forwards, and then the midfielders feeding off of the forwards. They’re starting to see it. Most importantly, they’re just relaxed and having fun.”
Republic and Camdenton were even in total shots (10 apiece) and shots on goal (4–4). The Tigers held a 5–4 edge in corners and were whistled twice for offsides. Goalkeeper Koal Williams made four saves in the shutout, Republic’s third straight. He fended off two shots in the final minute to preserve the clean sheet.
Zuniga said Pinnell’s breakthrough could be a turning point. “Those are his first goals of the season. He needed it,” Zuniga said. “Shooters go in droughts, goal scorers go in droughts, and he finally got one. I think that’s just what he needed to finally start seeing it and knowing that…his season’s not over. He still has quite a few more games of his senior year. I know it didn’t start the way he wanted it to, but I think this will be a good little nudge to get moving forward.”
Pinnell said the return of key players has boosted the team’s rhythm. “We definitely have had some people that have started to come back from injuries, myself as well as Isaiah,” he said. “We’re really getting the chemistry back up, like we do during club and last year. We have good chemistry together. And people like Maddox have stepped up into positions that they’re not normally in, but he’s been killing it.”
Republic improved to 4–10 overall and is 3–0 when scoring two or more goals this season.
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