By Ray Hamill — The first-ever playoff game on the new Albee Stadium all-turf field could not have gone any better.
On Wednesday night, the Eureka Loggers hosted Trinity Prep in the opening round of the North Coast Section Division-2 boys soccer playoffs and it took them just 40 seconds to open their account.
The Loggers never trailed after that and ran out to a comfortable 3-0 win that realistically could have been even more lopsided.
The victory for the No. 6 seeds sets up a weekend quarterfinal showdown at No. 3 Credo.
And if the Eureka boys continue to play like they did on Wednesday — especially in defense and attack — they will give the Gryphons a serious challenge.
“Great team effort and win tonight,” Eureka head coach Tommy Learmouth said. “We came out with intensity.”
The Eureka players were clearly fired up for the occasion and wasted no time breaking the deadlock, scoring what would turn out to be the winning goal on their very first attack.
Sophomore Bryce Pope caught the visiting defense off guard, taking possession in the penalty area, rounding the Trinity Prep goalie and calmly slotting home.
The Loggers enjoyed the better of exchanges early in the game and would add to their lead with 17 minutes remaining in the first half.
A long throw in by Lucas Ask — one of many from the Loggers that caused the visiting defense problems — resulted in a Mansoor Khan shot that hit the crossbar, but Eureka senior Cooper Munson was quickest to react and headed home to double his team’s advantage.
Ask would close out the scoring right before halftime, netting from a corner kick to give the No. 6 seeds a decisive three-goal advantage heading into the break.
And that would prove to be more than enough for a composed and well-organized Eureka back line that combined with sure-handed goalie Mason Beauchamp to keep the visitors at bay.
The Loggers would come close to adding to the lead several times in the second half, but were denied by the woodwork on multiple occasions.
Learmouth used the occasion to give many of his bench players valuable minutes in a playoff environment.
“Big shout out tonight to our back line and forwards,” the Eureka coach said. “They were on their game tonight, giving us energy and playing together.
“Tonight was a really good team performance.”
It also leaves the Loggers just one win from a semifinal appearance as they look to win a first-ever NCS title for the program.
And the Eureka boys appear to be finding their feet at the right time.
Learmouth’s team has lost just once in its last six games and has given up just two goals in those five unbeaten games, winning four of them.
With the win, the Loggers improved to 12-8-1 on the season
Credo, which had an opening-round bye, is 13-6-2 on the year.
The Rohnert park school finished third in this year’s NCL II, behind champion Sonoma Academy and Calistoga.
Saturday night’s quarterfinal is set for 7 p.m.
A win for Eureka could set up an all-local semifinal against Del Norte, if the No. 7 Warriors also win their quarterfinal at No. 2 Cristo Rey De La Salle.
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