Maybe it's a good thing the $50,000 donated Del Taco football/soccer scoreboard is not up yet, because between the 13-0 thrashing it took from a Todd Beamer soccer blast over Spanaway Lake and a 6-0 score on it of TJ throttling rival Decatur, it might have just cried "no mas" and bent its steel over.
TJ avenged a 2-1 loss to their Gator rivals of earlier this year.
"They came out and just killed us last year," said coach Dave Hanson. "We just got hot, we didn't do anything exceptional."
The Raiders are running after South Puget Sound League North leader Kentwood. TJ's record is 7-2-2 and Kentwood is 8-2-2 with the Conks coming to TJ's home turf at 7:30 p.m. today.
TJ will be trying to avenge a 2-1 loss on the Conks home field.
Hanson and his two good, soccer-playing boys as lead players on this team. Chase is only a freshman, but he's already getting high accolades from dad.
"He does pretty good. I will be surprised if he doesn't make first-team (all-league SPSL)," said Hanson.
Hanson's ball skills exude power and precision, and passing, and chipping, and shooting, rank up there, too. In this game, Hanson chipped a ball from far over on the left side some 30 yards out all the way across the field to little brother Chase at the corner of the 18-yard box. Chase one-touched the ball perfectly across the center 6-yard box area to Lenin Ramirez. And, one-touching it from point-black range past the Gators keeper rushing out to make it 1-0 Raiders.
The score would stay that way for all of eight minutes as Ramirez would cross a ball from the left wing deep in the corner to on-running Ernan Roman for a one-touch goal, a header, to make it 2-0. Seven minutes later, at the 15th minute of the first half, the third TJ goal came from Chris Miller. as the TJ leading scorer of the season, launched it from 35 yards out on the left side of the field. The ball deceptively sailed off the laissez-fair body motion kicking of Miller, as the Gators' keeper came out a little thinking it was going to drop down. It did not, it sailed over and into the net, 3-0. Two minutes later, Tyler Hanson got into the scoring act, dribbling before a quick shuffle outside-of-the-foot pass to Chase, who smashed it netward from the top-of-the-18 circle to make it 4-0. The 5-0 lead came about five minutes after Tyler Hanson was taken out of the game. The fifth score came from Nick McNew. The final 6-0 lead came in the 30th minute of the second half.
