The Pioneers played against the Decatur Bulldogs on Thursday, April 14th. The Bulldogs were down 1 player in the beginning of the game, but had another player come later in the game. The Pioneers were without junior defensive middle Aaron Walker and freshman defender Nick Linch. The Pioneers did not start off the way they wanted to. The Bulldogs were able to have some shots on the Pioneers, but the shots were stopped by junior goalie Kelsey James. The Pioneers were able to get on the scoreboard first. Sophomore forward Kevin Ochoa was able to score after the Bulldogs had a miscommunication near the goal. It was an intense first half for the Pioneers. Both teams were playing rough out there in the first half. James was able to stop a lot of goals and the Pioneers weren’t able to put in any more goal throughout the first half.

Senior James Fell passes the ball of to junior Braxton Gunneman.

“We knew we played horrible that first half. There were emotions running high during half time, but we were able to stay together and get things going in the second half,” said Ochoa.

Heading into halftime the Pioneers were up on the Bulldogs 1-0. The second half started and the Pioneers started off with a bang. Senior defensive middle James Fell was able to get the Pioneers another goal from about 15 yards out. After that goal the Pioneers started to play with a lot of confidence.  There was a lot of trash talking and rough playing on the field after the goal from both teams. Junior left wing Clay Willis was able to put in an amazing shot from about 17 yards out and was assisted by sophomore defensive middle Daniel Thao. The Bulldogs were getting frustrated and were playing pretty dirty on the field. The referee was good at calling both ways on the field. The Pioneers were able to score again from junior right wing Braxton Gunneman with an amazing cross pass from Fell to put the Pioneers  up 4-0 with still 30 minutes left in the game.

The Pioneers rarely let the Bulldogs have the chance to score in the second half and if the Bulldogs did, James was able to stop it. Willis was able to score another shot from about 12 yards out . The Pioneers were letting the Bulldogs have it this half. Junior Braxton Gunneman was able to score again from an assist from Thao giving the Pioneers a bigger lead of 6-0. With about 4 minutes left to play, junior defensive middle Jentre Pair finished the game with an amazing shot from about 35 yards out.

“We played amazing in the second half! We will need to keep this streak going if we want a chance in the conference this season. I hope the Eagles are ready for the Pioneers on Monday,” said Gunneman.

The Pioneers won 7-0 against the Bulldogs and they are now 3-3 in conference. Their next conference game was Monday, April 17th against the Huntsville Eagles.

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