Hendersonville High senior Austin Schmidle congratulates classmate Ethan Salley (4) after his first-half goal. Salley scored three goals in the Commandos’ 6-1 victory over Beech in Monday evening’s District 9-AAA Tournament quarterfinal match.
HENDERSONVILLE Ethan Salley’s excitement about the District 9-AAA Soccer Tournament may only have been exceeded by his contributions in the quarterfinal round.
The Hendersonville High senior scored his first varsity goal and followed it up with two more for a hat trick in the Commandos’ 6-1 victory over visiting Beech on Monday evening at Drakes Creek Park’s Field of Dreams.
Salley scored just 2:20 into the match, converting following a centering feed from classmate Owen Kalada. Salley scored twice over a span of 2:54 in the second half to complete his hat trick.
Hendersonville High senior Owen Kalada gains possession in front of Beech freshman Alex Esser during first-half action.
“It’s going to be a great memory,” Salley said. “It’s nice to get the start and get my first varsity goal and turn it into three.”
Darius Campbell, Ryan Von Mann and Thomas Roberts also scored for third-seeded Hendersonville (11-6-2), which also defeated the Buccaneers 4-1 on April 28.
Sixth-seeded Beech (4-10) had two graduating seniors combine on its goal. Connor Starr’s free kick hit the crossbar and the rebound bounced to Adam Edwards, who scored 5:57 into the second half to cut the deficit to 3-1.
Beech High senior Connor Starr heads the ball during first-half action.
“You couldn’t ask for two better seniors,” Beech head coach Jeremy Cooke said. “Every game, they gave everything they had. I wish I could have more seniors like them every year. I’m extremely proud of them.”
Hendersonville advances to Wednesday evening’s semifinals at Station Camp to face No. 2 seed Wilson Central, which handed the Commandos a 4-1 setback last Tuesday.
Beech High junior Lorenzo Huerta heads the ball in front of Hendersonville senior Alex Bragg during first-half action.
“We enjoy tournament time,” Hendersonville head coach Russ Plummer said. “With that said, we’ve got a tough situation Wednesday, because they kind of took it to us last week. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Reach Chris Brooks at cbrooks@tennessean.com or at 615-575-7118. Follow him on Twitter @CB_SumnerSports.