Walker, Eastman net hat tricks as Badgers roll on senior night
Senior forward Daniel Walker slips the ball past the opposing goalkeeper on his way to his second of three goals Friday afternoon in a 9-0 Badgers win.
BONNERS FERRY — The Bonners Ferry boys’ soccer team stayed unbeaten on the season with a 9-0 drubbing of Grangeville Friday afternoon on senior night.
Playing on a rain-soaked home field, the Badgers (5-0-1) scored four goals in the first half and five in the second on their way to their most dominant performance of the season.
After a tough, disappointing draw against Coeur d’Alene Charter on a turf field earlier in the week, the return to grass was a welcome one for Bonners Ferry.
“I feel like we play better in the sloppy conditions,” said Bonners Ferry head coach Brycen Lunger. “Playing in these sloppy conditions kind of fits our team … whenever they get hit with adversity it actually is better. I think it’s a mental thing.”
Led by hat tricks from senior forward Daniel Walker and sophomore midfielder Nick Eastman, the Bonners Ferry offense was firing on all cylinders for all 80 minutes.
“It felt really good,” said Walker, who felt he had been in a slump as of late. “Finding my way out of that was really nice.”
Walker got the Badgers on the board first in the 7th minute, and after a goal from senior midfielder Ian Beazer about 10 minutes later, scored back-to-back goals to close out the first half and pick up a hat trick in less than 40 minutes.
Although Walker and Beazer combined to put the Badgers up 4-0 at halftime, Lunger was hoping for a bigger advantage so his team could take its foot off the gas in the second half and move some guys around.
“4-0 at half is not what we were going for,” Lunger said. “We wanted more of an intense, maybe 6-0 [lead] so we could give more people opportunities to score on senior night.”
From there, it was Eastman’s turn to shine as the middie scored three straight goals in just over 20 minutes in the second half before a couple more goals, including one by senior defender Dalin Foster rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece.
“It felt nice, it was just chills,” Foster said. “Our bench was cheering on our seniors.”
The Bonners Ferry boys’ soccer team will be back in action on Monday, Sept. 28 when it hits the road to take on Timberlake at 4 p.m.