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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

ALEXANDER CITY – The Calera Eagles are halfway home to a perfect area record after cruising to victory against the Benjamin Russell Wildcats.

Faced with a trip to Benjamin Russell High School on Thursday, March 7, the Eagles scored 10 goals in a dominant outing against the Wildcats to trigger the mercy rule.

The victory takes Calera to 2-0 in area play and back to .500 on the season with a 4-4 record.

The Eagles entered the match on a tear having won their last three matches against Stanhope Elmore, Chilton County and Helena.

The victory over the Chilton County Tigers in their area opener was Calera’s most dominant win to that point. The Eagles fired six goals past the Tigers to claim the 6-2 victory, and the margin of victory of four goals was the best of the season.

That quickly changed as they took the field against Benjamin Russell.

Calera got straight to work in the first half, tying their best first half of the season with four goals in the opening 40 minutes.

While the Wildcats may have hoped for some reprieve after halftime, the Eagles kept the foot down on the gas for an even more productive second half.

After coming out of the locker room up 4-0, Calera outperformed its already impressive first-half total with six goals, its best half of soccer all season.

On the other end of the field, the Eagles kept all of Benjamin Russell’s efforts out of the back of the net as they turned in a clean sheet for just the second time this year.

That scoreless effort meant the 10th goal brought an end to the game, giving Calera the 10-0 by way of the mercy rule.

Edson Gonzalez dominated on the offensive end, scoring a hat trick thanks to his three goals and enabling the rest of the offense to succeed with four assists.

Armando Perez and Alexander Garcia each earned a brace by scoring two goals apiece while Perez added an assist as well.

TJ Hernandez-Sanchez and Blas Herrera ended the match with a goal and an assist each, and Sam Njoroge rounded out the scoring with a goal.

Matthew Doerfler excelled at finding his teammates as he recorded three assists on the night.

Mason Drake ended the game with seven saves in goal, and Peter Njoroge added a pair of saves as well to earn the combined shutout.

Calera will put its four-match win streak to the test in its next match against Spain Park at home on Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m.