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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

TUSCALOOSA – The last time the Hillcrest Patriots boys soccer team took the pitch in 2024, they fell 2-0 to Calera as the Eagles advanced to the second round of the Class 6A playoffs.

While many things have changed since that fateful April night, some remained the same in 2025. Namely, the result.

Calera blew past Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa 5-0 on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Hillcrest High School in a rematch of the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

The win came after a dominant season-opening showing by the Eagles girls team as it cruised to a 10-1 win over the Patriots as both Calera sides started out the season 1-0.

For the boys, the action started early with Matthew Doerfler’s first goal of the season as one of the Eagles’ top attackers scored six minutes into the matchup after Sam Njoroge assisted him.

That 1-0 lead held until the 23rd minute when Edson Gonzalez doubled the advantage off a feed from Armando Perez.

After going into the half up 2-0, Gonzalez wasted little time securing his brace as he scored in the 48th minute thanks to an assist from Doerfler to increase the lead to 3-0.

Six minutes later, Njoroge earned his second assist of the game by finding Perez for a goal to make it a 4-0 lead.

Alex Garcia capped off the scoring with a 61st minute goal that came from Doerfler’s second assist of the game, sealing the 5-0 win on opening night.

Doefler finished with a three-point match, scoring a goal and adding two assists. Gonzalez had two goals on the match, Njoroge earned two assists and Perez and Garcia had a goal apiece.

The defense also secured a clean sheet to head into their second match of the season without a goal against them.

As for the girls, they had an even greater offensive performance in their 10-1 win.

The Colliers dominated for the Eagles as Brianna Collier scored a whopping five goals in the season opener and Reese Collier earned a hat trick as well.

Sarah Hubbard and Ruby Gonzalez rounded out the scoring as Calera came within a goal of a mercy-rule win on the opening night of the season, starting out their year on a positive note with a commanding win over a Class 7A opponent.

The Eagles will return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 11 for a county battle against the Pelham Panthers. The special match will take place at the University of Montevallo with the girls kicking off at 5:30 p.m. and the boys scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m.