RABBITTOWN — East Hall is back in the semifinals.
Averen Samuels scored all three goals to lead the No. 4 Vikings (14-4-1) to their first semifinal appearance since 2017 with a 3-1 win over No. 7 Lagrange at East Hall Stadium on Wednesday.
"Averen is a special player and person," Head Coach Mark Wade said. "He works harder off the ball than almost anyone I’ve coached. His goals are pure effort goals."
His effort rallied the Vikings to lead after LaGrange (13-7) led, 1-0, for almost 20 minutes of the first half. Samuels's first goal in the 20th minute tied the match, 1-1. He scored again finished a rebound in the 32nd minute that pushed the Vikings ahead for the first time, 2-1. He struck again in the second half, 58th minute, to put the exclamation point on the win.
"We have a good group of players that can be counted on every night," Wade said. "If one guy is having a tough night, there are 4-5 others picking up their game to cover. It has kept us consistent."
Edder Montesinos and Pedro Arroyo each had an assist on the goals.
The Vikings will play host to Islands High School out of Savannah on Tuesday. Islands knocked off Flowery Branch, 2-1, on Wednesday to advance.
"Islands might be an unknown in our area, but they are a really strong team," Wade said. "I know Flowery Branch is one of the very best in the state, but Islands is every bit as good. They won their region and I think only have one loss coming in."
AREA SOCCER SCOREBOARD, Wednesday, May 5
CLASS 6A
Buford girls 2, Glynn Academy 1
CLASS 5A
Johnson boys 2, Starr's Mill 1
CLASS 4A
Islands boys 2, Flowery Branch 1
Jefferson boys 2, Columbus 0
East Hall boys 3, LaGrange 1
CLASS A PUBLIC
Towns County boys 3, Atkinson County 0
