The St. Anthony Saints and junior Jacob Haskill punched their ticket to the CIF Southern Section Division 7 boys’ soccer quarterfinals with a 3-1 victory against California Academy of Math and Science Tuesday afternoon at Molina Park.
After spending the first few minutes on the defensive end, Haskill scored his first of three goals in the fifth minute when he got a perfect pass from Andrew Kamienski.
Haskill wasn’t done there as he scored again six minutes later to give St. Anthony a commanding 2-0.
CAMS got a goal back in the 46th minute as Alex Rodriguez got behind the Saints back line.
“The way we see it is we can’t give up,” St. Anthony coach Aaron Rodriguez said. “From minute one to the end we have to keep going. Even if we’re up by four or down by four.”
The Saints put the pressure on CAMS in the second half as they kept the Rebels on their heels and let the shots fly after the lead was cut to one.
“They looked very distraught and out of it,” Haskill said of the team’s pressure in the second half. “We wanted to capitalize on that.”
Haskell certainly made the most of it as he scored again to complete the hat trick and give the Saints the victory.
St. Anthony goalkeeper Blake Collins had eight saves.
The Saints will now face Grace Brethren in the quarterfinals on Friday.
