LA VERNE, Calif. – Freshman forward Daniel Garcia became just the 11th player in Hope International men's soccer history to record a hat trick, spearheading the Royals to a 5-0 victory over Life Pacific in the GSAC opener on Wednesday at Ortmayer Stadium.
The Royals used a flurry of goals – four over a six minute, 14 second span between the end of the first half and start of the second – to turn a scoreless encounter into a rout.
Garcia scored in the 47th, 49th and 89th minutes to become the first HIU player in nearly four years to record at least three goals in a game. Angel Fores had a four-goal output on Sept. 18, 2021 vs. Marymount California.
The Royals enjoyed a 23-6 shots advantage, turning up the pressure in the second period. HIU outshot Life Pacific 16-4 in the second half. In addition, the Royals had a 10-0 edge in corner kicks.
Garcia led the team with five shots, and Christian Hernandez had four.
HIU scored its first goal at the 43:47 mark. After Julious Perez had his shot blocked, the deflection trickled out to the right side. Julian Benitez settled it and cut a pass to the top of the 18 where Brayden Moore rifled a shot to the lower left corner for his first goal of the season.
The Royals took that 1-0 lead into halftime, but wasted no time adding to the ledger at the start of the second period.
Garcia received a pass from Moore on the right side, took three touches to his left and lofted a ball that floated over the head of Life Pacific goalkeeper Alberto Orozco and into the upper left corner. The goal at the 46:45 mark gave HIU a 2-0 lead.
HIU increased the margin to 3-0 in the 49th minute when Rafa Gonzalez beat his defender to the touchline and poked a right footed pass to a streaking Garcia down the middle. Garcia met the ball and slammed his shot home from the doorstep.
Scoring for the third time in five minutes to start the second half, the Royals used a give-and-go between Vincent Lopez and Garcia for the fourth goal. Lopez fed Garcia, who tapped it right back. Lopez took his momentum toward goal and beat the goalkeeper inside the left post.
The Warriors had a chance to cut into HIU's 4-0 lead in the 78th minute when the Royals were called for a foul inside the box. HIU backup goalkeeper Tyler Beehler proceeded to stop the penalty kick from Life Pacific's Damian Fuentes, and the follow up shot by Fuentes was blocked.
With the game winding down, HIU had one more offensive push left. Christian Hernandez took a high looping shot from 30 yards out that pinged off the crossbar and rebounded to Garcia, who found an open net after the Warrior goalkeeper had sprawled out trying to stop the initial shot.
HIU improved to 2-1-3, with its two wins coming by a combined margin of 11-0. Life Pacific dropped to 0-5-0 on the season.
HIU played all three goalkeepers – Berlin Torres, Wyatt Schaap and Beehler. The Warriors managed to put just one of their six shots on frame, leading to the Beehler penalty kick save.
The Royals continue their roadtrip on Saturday with an 8:00 p.m. kickoff at Benedictine Mesa.
