JOey Guariglia battles for possession of the ball in the box during Douglas High's opening round playoff game in the Class 3A regional tournament.
Tony Erquiaga
The Douglas High boys soccer team took advantage of its celebratory sendoff and bested Spring Creek in the opening round of the Class 3A regional playoffs Thursday afternoon.
The 5-1 win was more than convincing behind four goals from the Tiger senior forward Joey Guariglia.
"It was pretty incredible," said Douglas head coach Ricky Diaz. "It was definitely a playoff game. We came in knowing everything was going to be a different phase of a game."
Hardy Leikenes tallied his own goal on a penalty kick.
The win is the first postseason win for the boys soccer program since at least 2011. Prior to that, Douglas was a state runner-up in Class 4A in 2007 to Bishop Gorman.
UP NEXT: Douglas (8-2-6) will take on the top seed from Class 3A's North East league in Elko (11-4-4). The two teams met September 18 in Minden and played to a 1-1 draw.
"It was a pretty even game. It's going to come to a game of whoever doesn't make mistakes is going to come out with a win," said Diaz. "Joey, on the high press took the ball and put it in the net. They capitalized on one of our mistakes. I expect tomorrow to be a hard played game. Whoever, plays more disciplined and without mistakes will probably come out on top."
