Wolverines’ Star Senior Scores Five Goals in 9-0 Win for Woodruff Soccer
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer | garrett@thewoodrufftimes.com
Tavo Bastos may as well have been kicking the ball into the Atlantic Ocean. The net looked that big.
On Monday night, the Wolver-ines’ star senior scored five goals in Woodruff soccer’s opening round rout of West Oak, 9-0. The win improved the Wolverines’ record to 15-3 and sets up a battle of titans at Powdersville on Thursday night.
Tavo scored all five goals in the first half, but was not the first Wolverine to find the back of the net. Max Perez also recorded a hat trick of three goals, and got Woodruff on the board first with a nifty shot just four minutes into the game. And it opened a first-half deluge that the Warriors were powerless to stop.
Bastos upped the lead to 3-0 by himself with two goals in the span of four minutes, and just nine minutes in, Woodruff led 3-0.
Diego Delfin added a goal in the 11th minute for a 4-0 lead before Bastoss dropped the final, decisive hammer.
Tavo scored three more goals in the final 10 minutes of the half, including two in 41 seconds in the final two minutes, to give the Wolverines a 7-0 halftime lead.
“I trusted my coaches,” said Bastos. “They had a game plan, and I used it to our strengths. It’s a tremendous win. Any win in the play-offs is big and we really needed it.”
The second half was a bit slower offensively, but with Woodruff holding an insurmountable lead, Head Coach Aaron Chappel rested his starters and allowed the subs to play significant minutes. Perez would account for the only two second-half goals, the final score coming with 18 minutes to play in the game.
Chappel was pleased with his team’s effort and credits the Wolverines’ strength and conditioning program for the team’s success.
“One of the things we talk about as a strength of our program, and really all athletics at Woodruff, is Coach (Ryan) Thomas doing such a good job emphasizing building our team speed, and you saw that on display tonight,” said Chappel. “There’s been times this season, admittedly, when we haven’t used that strength, but we absolutely have made an effort the last few days in practice to get back to doing what we do best and what we do best is run.”
In their last two games, the Wolverines have outscored Union County and West Oak by a combined score of 16-2. They will need another exceptional offensive night with the second round of the play-offs looming on Thursday.
Next up, Woodruff will travel to Powdersville, a program that has not only been among South Carolina’s best but has been nationally ranked over the past several seasons. Chappel knows his team will be the underdog, but told his squad after Monday’s win that either way, they would have to go through the Patriots if they want to realize their goal of a state championship.
“It’s a huge opportunity and our guys have been working hard,” he said. “We’ve earned the right to be there, and they’ve also earned the right to play another 80 minutes, so we’re excited to go compete.”
Bastos, meanwhile, does not view the Wolverines as an underdog. In his mind, he expects Woodruff to win and believes in what he and his teammates can do.
“Personally, I don’t believe it would be a shock (if we win),” stated Tavo. “We have all put in the work. Everybody here believes it, and we’re all confident in our abilities. We don’t look at it as knocking off a giant, or at least I don’t personally. I look at it as playing an opponent and going out there to compete.”
Author: gmitchell85
