The EG boys soccer train just keeps on chugging, bringing home the regional championship last Saturday after an exciting 2-1 win against Addison Trail.

The boys started out slow coming out of the gate, but the defense and goalkeeping by junior goalkeeper Alberto Centeno kept the game close for most of the first half.

The Grens were the first ones to strike, however, as senior Gio Garcia scored with 7:37 left in the first half, which was all the scoring that would be done that half for either team.

The Grens came out strong in the second half, but Addison Trail managed to save two potential second goals about three and four minutes in, respectively. Addison Trail almost tied it up a couple minutes later, but Centeno managed to make a good save to keep EG up.

But Addison Trail wasn’t done with their attack, as they managed to tie up the game with 32:08 left with a perfectly placed kick that went just over Centeno’s reach.

The game then went back and forth between each teams’ side, but nobody could gain the lead until junior Eric Pillath put in the go-ahead goal with 14:56 left in the game.

EG managed to stop the rest of Addison Trail’s attacks, and ran away with a 2-1 win. Head coach Rob Shepard really liked the way his team played during the game.

“We were filled with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement, and the guys were able to go out and execute the game plan,” said Shepard.

Now it’s on to sectionals, but Shepard thinks the team needs to come out stronger to keep on winning.

“I think it’s coming out at the beginning of games with the same energy and focus that we do when we finish games,” Shepard said.

Pillath also liked the way the team came out attacking in the second half, and feels the same as Shepard about starting the games strong.

“I think in the second half we came out a lot stronger, but we need to come out with more energy from the start of the game,” Pillath said.

Even with the slow start, however, Pillath never doubted that his team would win the game.

“I never thought we would lose,” Pillath said. “I always have faith in my team.”

A lot of players stepped up during the game, including Pillath, who scored his first goal of the season when he kicked in the game winner.

“It felt awesome [scoring the game winner] because we won regionals, and now for our seniors it’s their last year and we can see how far we can go,” Pillath said. “It felt pretty good.”

By Ryan Herrera