The Joplin Eagles scored three goals in the first half and five in the second to earn an 8-0 win Monday night over the visiting Parkview Vikings during the Eagles’ home finale.
Five different Eagles scored goals and three players finished with two each; seniors Luis Cordova, Luciano Reyes, and Adam Montanez scored twice each, and sophomore Adam Badr and senior Grayden Cravens had one goal each, while senior goalkeeper Andrew Jordan finished with a shutout.
“Our goal this year is to be an efficient and deadly team in the final third,” Joplin coach Josh Thompson said. “I think whenever you have this many guys who are able to finish in the box, good things happen. We’re able to spread the ball around, and the stats are indicative of that.”
The teams played in steady rain for nearly 60 minutes of the match and the Eagles netted half their goals after the rain had slowed down.
“Not this season, but we’ve got 11 seniors out here that every year we’ve had at least two games that are in this type of weather or worse,” Thompson said. “That’s one of the advantages of having an experienced squad. They’ve been out here on this field in these conditions, but in 33- or 32-degree weather right on the line so they’re ready for it.”
Joplin honored their seniors before the match Monday.
“They were my first group being a head coach with these guys,” Thompson said. “Being able to grow as a head coach along with them as players out here, it’s been a tremendous experience. I’ve known a lot of these guys since they were in middle school, and it’s just been a fun ride. This is the type of team coaches wait a long time for and it doesn’t happen often.”
The Eagles improved to 15-6 overall entering their regular-season finale Tuesday on the road against Central Ozark Conference opponent Branson.
“We have Branson at Branson tomorrow, then we’ll head up to Lee’s Summit and play Lee’s Summit West on Saturday,” Thompson said.
With a win Tuesday, the Eagles can match their 16 wins from last season.
The Eagles are the sixth seed in a Class 4 District 6 field with six teams that have a winning record (top seed Rockhurst, No. 2 Lee’s Summit, No. 3 Lee’s Summit West, No. 4 Raymore-Peculiar, and No. 5 Carthage in addition to the Eagles).
“Looking at some of the other districts, I think from top to bottom we are certainly the hardest one or one of the hardest ones,” Thompson said. “There’s no easy way through this bracket.”
The Eagles are in pursuit of their first district title in boys soccer since 2018, when they won a pair of 3-2 matches against Republic and Springfield Central to come away with the Class 4 District 11 title.
