In a Saturday afternoon battle between top-5 KCAA squads, the Heritage Christian Academy soccer team flexed its muscles with a 5-0 shutout of visiting Highlands Latin School.
On a day when the Warriors recognized seniors Mati Venable, Thomas West and Jess Bufford, West scored twice and Venable added another to fuel the blowout of the Highlanders.
Highlands came into the match ranked 2nd in the KCAA power poll, with HCA sitting just behind in 3rd, but after a back-and-forth first 30 minutes, it was the Warriors taking a first-half lead.
With just 5 minutes until halftime, Mati Venable scored on a header off a corner kick by Trenton Hayes, followed closely by a goal for Hayes for a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Warriors were in control in the second half, but had to wait over 25 minutes for their third goal. West opened his account with a solo effort, before Ayden Higgins found the back of the net off Hayes’ second assist to stretch the margin to four. West capped his Senior-Day performance with the fifth and final goal with just 2:20 to play.
Andrew Gentry made 8 saves in goal to earn the shutout, while Ballard Wheatley was forced into 12 stops for the Highlanders.
The match concludes HCA’s regular-season schedule, with the state tournament set to begin October 14.
