After 17 days away from the soccer pitch, the only rust on display for University Heights Academy Tuesday was the flowing orange locks of Will Bryan as he streaked his way to six goals in an 11-1 win over Fort Campbell. The All-A Classic semifinal win moves the Blazers into Thursday’s championship match at Lyon County, a 2-1 winner over Caldwell County.
Bryan scored in the game’s first minute as the Blazers raced out to a 3-0 lead just eight minutes into the contest.
Bryan added his second goal seven minutes in, and Tanner Thomas took a feed from Ethan Hale to find the net for the 3-0 lead.
Fort Campbell had a shot at chipping away at the lead, but Jhony Paniagua’s direct kick from 25 yards away banged off the post.
Four minutes later, Conner Dill rebounded a missed shot by Bryan to put the Blazers up 4-0. Thomas added his second goal midway through the first half on a direct kick from 33 yards out, and Bryan completed his hat trick off a nice cross from Noah Shouse with 15 minutes left for a 6-0 lead.
Rafael Cerritos got Fort Campbell on the board with just over two minutes left in the half when he worked his way across the box and scored.
Any hope the Falcons had at a comeback ended in the final minute as Bryan scored again off a pass from Elvin Wagner and later stole a Falcon pass and scored unassisted for an 8-1 Blazer lead at intermission.
Thomas added his third and fourth goals, and Bryan his sixth in the first six minutes of the second half to end the game via the mercy rule.
UHA outshot Fort Campbell 23-7. Blazer goalie Will Maxwell made five saves.
Fort Campbell (2-6) will host Marshall County Thursday at Mahaffey Middle School.
University Heights (3-1) will look for their first win over Lyon County Thursday in seven years in the title match.
