AC: Danville Sniper Edges Tacoma South Sound in Thriller, 7-6

By Kevin Brereton
WSL Special Correspondent

SAN DIEGO -- Junior attackman Casey Hock scored the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining to give Danville Sniper a thrilling 7-6 victory over the Tacoma South Sound Starz in both teams’ opening game at the Adrenaline Challenge on Saturday.

In an Adrenaline Elite Division Group 3 game, Hock picked up a ground ball moments after getting laid out by Tacoma’s goalie and fired a shot into the empty net for the decisive goal.

Hock scored a game-high five goals to give Sniper (1-0) a win in the most exciting game of the tournament so far. Senior middie Cody Soberanes added a goal and an assist.

In defeat, junior middie Jake Bernstein and junior attackman Quinn Moody each finished with three points on two goals and one assist, and senior attackman Taylor Dean had a goal and an assist for South Sound (0-1).

In an intense game that included conduct penalties on coaches on both teams, Tacoma struck first when Bernstein scored an unassisted man-up goal in the fourth minute of the first half. But Hock drew Sniper level two minutes later on a fast break after taking a pass from junior attackman Jared Welker.

South Sound responded with three unanswered goals, but a goal by Soberanes and two more by Hock brought Sniper even again at 4-4 by halftime.

In the second half, Dean scored off a feed from Moody, and both teams traded goals until Hock’s game-winner.

“Our team fights hard,” Hock said. “We go 100 percent. We came to win the whole thing, not just the first game.”