Pereira scores twice as Polk rallies in second half to top R-S Central

Polk County rallied from a halftime deficit Wednesday with a second-half flurry of goals to defeat R-S Central 3-2 in a Mountain Foothills 7 Conference boys soccer match in Rutherfordton.

The Wolverines (3-10-1, 3-6) trailed 1-0 at the break as R-S Central (1-14, 0-9) got an early score from Carlos Rubio.

But Polk County answered early in the second half as Elliot Whiteside’s blast from the left side of the goal was deflected in front of the net, where Nate Martinez fought through a scrum of players to get a shot into the net to even the match.

The Wolverines then got their final two goals of the half from Cole Pereira, both on breakaways where Pereira was able to push ahead of the Hilltopper defense and beat the R-S Central goalkeeper.

“It was a very entertaining game, both sides wanting to win,” said Polk County head coach Josh Trejo. “I felt that we had the better of the game, but I was just happy that the win gave us a sense of relief.

“We have been unfortunate with the season and record that we have. But after (the game) I got to see a lot of the players smile for once and it felt good.”

Polk County has a short break before returning to action next Wednesday, traveling to Chase for another conference matchup.