WHITEHALL – Before the season started, Fruitport soccer coach Dan Hazekamp predicted that sophomore Jorge Burgos-Yack would become a big scorer.
It just took a little while for the coach to find out how correct he was.
Burgos-Yack went scoreless in the Trojans’ first four games, but more than made up for that on Wednesday by netting an amazing six goals to lead Fruitport to a convincing 9-1 mercy-shortened victory over Whitehall on the road.
Fruitport, which overcame an early 1-0 deficit, improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season.
“It feels good,” Burgos-Yack said about his performance. “It was a good team effort overall. I just had the privilege of capping it off.
“I started off a little rocky this season. This was my first game scoring and it was just a chain reaction, honestly.”
Hazekamp was not surprised by the scoring explosion.
“He had a tremendous performance,” the coach said. “Jorge is a special player. He had a little bit of a slow start to the season and he was pressing a bit. So tonight was a really good opportunity to see him play at his rhythm and pace. He capitalized on his opportunities.”
Burgos-Yack netted his first goal just 7:07 into the game, which tied the score at 1-1.
He netted his second goal 10 minutes later, giving Fruitport a 2-1 advantage.
Burgos-Yack scored his third goal just past the 23-minute mark to net a hat-trick before halftime and extend the Trojan lead to 3-1.
Thirty seconds later, junior Isaac VanderMolen took his turn scoring a goal for Fruitport to make the score 4-1.
Two minutes later, junior Grade Anspach kicked in the rebound of a blocked VanderMolen shot to make the score 5-1.
Burgos-Yack capped off his incredible first half with goals at the 32:49 mark and the 34:23 mark to give Fruitport a 7-1 lead at the break.
Just over a minute into the second half, Burgos-Yack netted his sixth and final goal, then senior Ryan Mitchell ended the game with a tally just over two minutes later.
Hazekamp was impressed with the way his team kept its composure, and took control of the contest, after falling behind early.
“We talked about being mature with our approach,” the coach said. “To have an early setback and be a little frazzled to start, but then come back with a good effort as the game went on was a good thing. We have to get better at starting games, though.”
The Trojans will open O-K Blue Conference play with a home clash on Monday against Hamilton.
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