BOYS' SOCCER: WHS scores 10 goals in second half, improves to 2-0

WORTHINGTON -- Juan Flores had one.

So did Rudy Ramirez and Naakoo Omot.

When the dust settled in Tuesday's boys' soccer game, all three had a hat trick, leading Worthington to a 15-1 victory against New Ulm.

"At first there was some getting used to with the field being wet," said Ramirez, referring to a rain shower that passed through before the game. "But after we got our rhythm going, it was all about touch-touch and I think we got it going in the second half."

Omot and Flores each scored four times, while Ramirez found the net three times as the three combined for 11 of the Trojans' 15 goals.

"It starts with our midfield," Ramirez said. "They touch the ball well and they know where me and Naakoo are at all times and they give it to us. They know what we're going to do."

Worthington (2-0) has now outscored its opponents 27-1 in two games.

"I didn't think we performed our best yet," head coach Vilath Lovan said. "It was a young team, just like last week's game.

"We can score a lot of goals. It's going to hurt in the future. If the game is kind of tight, we could lose a game if we don't score. There were a lot of opportunities for those guys to score and they didn't."

The Trojans had 37 shots on goal, but missed easy shots in both halves.

"We could have scored more goals," Flores said.

"It just wasn't some of our guys' days. It was one of those days where it just doesn't go in .

"I'm pretty happy that I had that day that it went in for me."

The goals came in bunches for Flores.

After scoring on a free kick early in the first half, he completed his hat trick in a span of a little more than a minute.

He had a breakaway with 30:42 remaining in the game and 1:08 later, he added another goal on an assist from Diego Esquivel.

Goal No. 4 came at the 32:37 mark on a nice set play from Ramirez.

"My teammates were going in, Rudy was going in and I just yelled at him to give it back to me," Flores said. "He just gave it back, had the open shot and it went in.

"I was practicing those shots during warm-ups, too. I'm pretty happy that they went in."

After the free kick, three different Trojans had an assist on Flores' goals.

"It was teamwork, I just finished," he said. "My teammates did all the work and I was just there to finish them."

Omot, meanwhile, had a long drought throughout the game.

After scoring a mere 22 seconds in, he didn't find the net until there was a little more than 10 minutes left in the contest.

But in a span of two minutes, 26 seconds, Omot scored three times, pushing the lead to 13-1 at the time.

Jairo Mendoza and Oo Aa Sit each scored in the first half as Worthington outshot the Eagles 18-0 but only scored five times.

"It seems like the kids can't control themselves inside the field, maybe they're too nervous," Lovan said. "I told the kids, if it's inside the box, just put it in the pocket where you want to instead of blasting the ball."

But in the second half, the Trojans scored 10 goals on 19 shots.

"I think that goes with every game," Ramirez said. "You have your missed shots and you have your made shots. But I think the ones that counted were the ones that went in and I think that showed on the scoreboard. I'm happy with our performance."

Ramirez scored all three of his goals in the second half -- and all within six minutes.

Flores had just scored his second and third goals early in the second half as Worthington had a 7-0 advantage.

Enter Ramirez.

He scored a goal on an assist from Jairo Mendoza, then put two more in off assists from Michael Singsaath.

"I was just happy with what I got," Ramirez said. "A fourth one wouldn't have hurt, but I'm happy with what I got."

Trailing 10-0, New Ulm's Broderick Brown found the net for the Eagles' only goal.

But Omot answered with three straight goals, Flores scored his fourth and Omot Omot found the net with 18 seconds left as the Trojans scored 10-plus goals for the second straight game.

But will that trend continue?

"I don't think so," Lovan said. "I hope so. The next game should be pretty fun against Mankato West, the guys that beat us out last year."

Worthington will need to continue its offensive output on Thursday. The Trojans will return to Mankato to face West -- the same team that ended Worthington's season a year ago in the section finals.

"That's a game I've been waiting for all season," Flores said. "It's pretty much a rematch. It's their home town, same place, same time and same crowd. We're going to go over there and show them what we got. We have a better team than last year. We can do something with this team."

New Ulm 0 1 -- 1

Worthington 5 10 -- 15