It seemed early Monday evening that perhaps fate wasn’t on Polk County’s side, the Wolverines dominating play but failing to convert a handful of scoring chances, Avery taking an early 1-0 lead on a fluky goal fired from near midfield.
Perhaps fate was just a late arrival.
Polk County unleashed a flood of goals, scoring five times in a 15-minute span spanning the first and second halves en route to a 6-2 win over the Vikings in the Western Highlands Conference opener for the Wolverines at Polk.
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Wil Rimer scored three goals and had a pair of assists for Polk (3-3, 1-0) in the Wolverines’ first action in 11 days. Perhaps the layoff helped account for the early offensive frustration, but Polk would soon enough hone in its targeting.
Trailing 1-0, the Wolverines evened the match with 5:03 left as Salvador Chavez fired a left-footed shot that was deflected in front of the goal, leaving Rimer with an easy tap-in to tie the match.
Just over two minutes later, Polk struck again. Jeremy Allsbrook’s long throw-in found Rimer, who tipped the ball toward Chavez, who guided it into the net, giving the Wolverines a 2-1 edge.
Polk then ramped up its attack to open the second half. Rimer drove down the left wing and centered a perfect pass to Tom Artmeier, who scored just 37 seconds into the second half. Allsbrook soon followed with a push down the right wing and a centering pass to Rimer, who drilled a shot into the left side of the net for a 4-1 advantage.
Rimer then finished the flurry with his third goal, that one coming with 30:21 left in the half and making it 5-1.
“I thought we played pretty well,” said Polk County head coach Lennox Charles. “I thought we worked really hard in midfield to keep the ball in their half, especially early on. That allowed us to win balls back quickly.
“We did a good job getting the ball down the sides and connecting passes when we needed to. We executed our corners and our throw-ins pretty well.”
Nate Smart scored with 4:31 left, rebounding a shot deflected by Avery’s goalkeeper, before the Vikings (3-6, 1-2) got a late goal from Juan Robles, his second of the match.
Polk County travels Thursday to Mitchell for another WHC matchup.
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