Indians romp over Vikings (with VIDEO, PHOTOS)

By WILL PARCHMAN

Northwest Florida Daily News
(850) 315-4484 | willp@nwfdailynews.com

FORT WALTON BEACH - The Fort Walton Beach boys soccer team has seen plenty of Choctawhatchee's Ricky Hoegg, but the Vikings haven't quite figured out how to stop him yet.

Hoegg rang up his second three-goal performance in as many games against the Vikings this season to pace the Indians' 5-0 thrashing of Fort Walton Beach Tuesday at Steve Riggs Stadium in a District 1-5A clash.

Hoegg himself has outscored the Vikings 6-1 in the teams' last two meetings.

Click to see photos from the game

"(Ricky) is someone we can work around," Indians coach Chris McDaniel said. "He inspires the other kids but they're all fighting now. He's got a good defense behind him that's working hard and a midfield, so that just makes him a better player."

With undefeated Niceville having all but wrapped up the regular season district title and the No. 1 seed in the district tourney, the Indians (14-3-1, 8-2-1) are essentially playing for second, and with Pace nipping on their heels at just a half game back, Tuesday's win could go a long way toward that goal.

The outlook for the Vikings (5-6-2, 5-4-2) is a bit bleaker. After getting swept in their last two games, both to Choctaw, Fort Walton Beach has been sliding down the district standings at the wrong time of year.

"It doesn't put us in an ideal position by any means," said Vikings assistant coach Heath LeMay, who was coaching in place of Zac Keeler, who was serving a one-game suspension for a red card he received in the last meeting between these teams. "It just means a lot more work to do before the district playoffs."

Hoegg knocked in the first goal off a seeing-eye assist from J.R. Rynearson 17 minutes in to tally the lone goal of the first half.

Martin Barriga hammered home the second goal nine minutes into the second half after collecting a carom at the 6-yard line off an errant pass.

Hoegg struck two more times over the next 20 minutes to put the game out of reach, and Rynearson capped the scoring.

"We've just got to keep getting better," McDaniel said. "(The players) have got more to work on and they know it, not just relying on Rick. We've just got to work better as a team. Because if they're doing that, we'll be alright."