South Side trailed for the first time this season and scored all its goals in the second half of a 5-1 win against visiting McNairy on Thursday (April 1).

“We got off to a very rocky start,” coach Jake Stoffregen said. “We were playing flat and didn’t have any energy.”

McNairy scored on a penalty kick in the 10th minute for a 1-0 lead.

“That’s the first time we’ve been down all season,” Stoffregen said. “At halftime, we talked. I pointed some things out and tried to rally some energy.”

About ten minutes into the second half, South Side (4-0 overall, 2-0 District 13-AA) played a corner kick into the box and a McNairy player knocked it in for an own goal and 1-1 tie.

Less than a minute later, Angel Noyola scored to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

“That really brought life to the guys,” Stoffregen said.

Noyola scored a second goal. Victor Sosa and Gary Salinas added a goal apiece.

“The same way that their first goal got in our heads, after we got two in such quick succession, I think that got in their (McNairy’s) heads,” Stoffregen said. “There’s no timeouts in soccer. It’s hard to get guys to refocus after that and I think that’s part of what happened to them.”