In a soccer game that was dead even for the first 40 minutes Thursday evening, host Hixson pulled away in the second half for a 6-2 District 6-A/AA victory over Tyner.
The score was tied 1-1 at halftime following goals from Hixson's Cergio Maldonado and Tyner's Josue Villa. Once the second half began, though, all momentum swung in favor of the Wildcats (9-0-1, 7-0).
"We lost our defensive intensity at the beginning of the second half," Tyner coach Randy Young said. "Usually our defense is much better than that, but we just lost our intensity."
Maldonado made it 2-1 only two minutes into the second half on a pass that deflected off the defense and landed in front of the Tyner goal. That was the first of 13 Hixson shots in the second half, compared to six for the Rams (5-3, 3-3).
"Second half we came out with a lot more intensity compared to the first," Hixson coach Jeff Dean said. "I had a little talk with them at half, and they responded by raising their level of urgency."
Four minutes after Maldonado's second goal, Edgar Melchor gave the Wildcats a 3-1 lead as he ran past the Tyner defense on the left wing and put a shot into the right side of the goal.
Tyner got its second goal off a Martin Trujillo corner kick that deflected off the Hixson defense and landed right in front of the Hixson goal. Charlie Angel blasted it home.
Godfred Collins and Vicente Guerrero added goals late in the game for Hixson, and Maldonado netted his third for a hat trick.
"We're moving the ball well and our defense is playing well, too," Dean said. "They're playing good soccer right now, and it's a good team right now. I'm very proud of them."
Contact Ted Bryant at sports@timesfreepress.com.