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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA – After a beach trip to start spring break and 11 days of rest, the Calera Eagles got back in the win column with a 5-0 win against the Hillcrest Patriots on Thursday, April 4 at Hillcrest High School.

The Eagles went into spring break with a 10-0 win over Ramsay, but after a tournament-opening 7-0 win against Hartselle, they finished the beach break with a pair of tough losses to 7A Prattville in a 3-2 defeat and Southside-Gadsden in a 3-0 loss.

The extra time off from spring break and a cancelled match against Hoover on Tuesday, April 2 gave Calera fresh legs to work with as it made the trip west to Tuscaloosa to face Hillcrest.

However, the Eagles couldn’t break through in the first half as they went without a goal for the opening 40 minutes of the match.

They didn’t allow a goal in response though and went into halftime in a scoreless tie.

Calera flipped the switch in the second half and fired five goals past Hillcrest to take the lead and build on it in dominant fashion.

On the defensive end of the pitch, the Eagles maintained their momentum from the first half and kept the Patriots scoreless the entire way.

That clean sheet combined with their offensive effort led to the 5-0 win for Calera.

Alexander Garcia led the way for the offense with two goals to record a brace. Armando Perez, TJ Hernandez-Sanchez and Blas Herrera joined him on the score sheet with a goal apiece as the Eagles spread the wealth around their potent attackers.

They didn’t score those goals by themselves as Andrel Cuenca, Matthew Doerfler and Edson Gonzalez each recorded an assist on the night.

Mason Drake and Peter Njoroge split the time in goal as Drake kept the game scoreless for 70 minutes and Njoroge held the Patriots without a goal for the other 10 minutes to take the shutout win.

Calera will face another Tuscaloosa team in its next match, this time at home as it faces the Tuscaloosa Academy Knights on Tuesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. at Calera High School.