The Dawson County High School varsity boys' soccer team is getting hot at just the right time. The Tigers have won four straight games and five of the last six as they prepare for the Class AAA state playoffs, which are set to begin this week.
Last week, the Tigers easily defeated North Hall, 5-1, and region foe Franklin County, 6-0.
With the two wins Dawson County stands at 10-2-2 overall and 4-1 in region 7-AAA play.
The Tigers faced off with East Hall yesterday. The match will determine who finishes second or third in the region. Scores were unavailable at press time.
West Hall has wrapped the region championship and will be the No. 1-seed going into the playoffs.
After a Spring Break layoff, the Tigers took a 2-1 halftime lead at North Hall April 15 on goals by Brandon Lund and an assist by Dennis Pyetsukh.
Lund added his third goal at the 23:11 mark on a pass from Pyetsukh to take a 3-1 advantage.
Dawson County put the Trojans away on goals by David Velasquez (2:30) and Johnny Steele with six seconds remaining.
Randy Schultz picked up both assists on the goals.
It was a rainy, messy night for the Tigers on April 17.
The weather didn't seem to affect Dawson County though.
The team scored three goals in less than four minutes to jump ahead 3-0.
Lund started the scoring with a blast past the Franklin County goalie just a 1:35 into the game.
The second goal came off the foot of Schultz at the 35:26 mark. It was the fourth goal of the season for Schultz, and put the Tigers up 2-0.
Lund added the third goal at 34:27 to make the lead 3-0.
Sal Mendoza picked up all three assists.
"Sal (Mendoza) is doing a great job feeding everyone, that is one of the reasons why our team has been scoring so much lately," said Head Coach Jed Lacey.
The Tigers added two more goals in the half, both by freshman Pyetsukh, to take a commanding 5-0 halftime lead.
Pyetsukh has seven goals this season.
Lund finished his hat trick just 13 seconds into the second half to complete the scoring.
Lund has 14 goals on the year and has scored five goals in his last two games.
"Brandon Lund is such an incredible player. He is just fun to watch," Lacey said.
Freshman goalie Ty Anglin picked up both wins. It was Anglin's fifth shutout of the season.
The game was stopped with 33:17 remaining because of the weather.
The team also celebrated senior night before the game.
Lacey and his staff congratulated seniors: Dalton Edwards, Josh Sage, Schultz, Lund, Mendoza, Jose Zuniga and Velasquez.
"It has been a pleasure coaching these fine young men over the last four years," Lacey said. "Each one of these players will be missed and they will be hard to be replace."