East Hamilton soccer coach John Millard spent much of Wednesday’s practice attempting to calm the emotions of his Hurricanes before Thursday’s contest against East Ridge.
The Pioneers spent 80 minutes trying to weather the storm of emotions that the Hurricanes threw at them.
East Hamilton scored two first-half goals and won 2-1 Thursday at Camp Jordan in a physical contest that included injuries and nine yellow cards.
East Ridge keeper Jonathan Rodriguez went down with an injury in the first minutes of the match. He was taken to the emergency room after the game, diagnosed with a dislocated finger and had it popped back into place. Backup keeper Steve Dennis filled in admirably for Rodriguez, stopping four shots.
The Pioneers (7-1, 4-1) actually scored first, when Josh Francisco headed in a nice pass from Alfonso Lopez, but coach Jeremy McIntyre sensed an emotional dip when Rodriguez got hurt.