Missouri Military Academy blew Friday’s district championship soccer game wide open.

After MMA led the Class 1 District 3 championship game 1-0 at halftime, it finished with a 6-2 victory over Brentwood on the Eagles’ home field. Fernando Puebla netted his third hat trick of the season with three goals, Emilio Perez followed with two goals, Alex McBride had one goal two assists, and Aiden Zoroufchy had two assists in the Colonels’ first district title win since 2018.

“We knew Brentwood's strengths going into the game and myself and coach Rodrigo Padilla put a game plan together to overcome their strong defensive unit,” head coach Elliot Goodwin said while considering Brentwood (12-10) allowed four goals during the Eagles’ five-game winning streak going into the game. “Our message at half was to calm down and relax a little bit more in possession, as well as play into wide areas where we knew we could cause damage.”

In the first play of the second half, McBride drove to the end line and passed crossfield to Perez for the goal. After Brentwood cut MMA’s lead to 3-2 with 25 minutes left in the game, Perez scored and Puebla found the back of the net twice in the last 15 minutes.

“Puebla has been outstanding since he joined us and is a very exciting player to watch,” Goodwin said about Puebla’s first season with MMA (15-4). “We're ecstatic that he managed to grab a hat trick in the championship game. He even managed to take the matchball home which was a nice gesture from the Brentwood coach.”

The Colonels defeated STEAM Academy 8-0 in the semifinals last Wednesday to secure their fifth shutout this season and third 8-0 victory. Puebla led with four goals, McBride followed with two goals, and Perez and Mateo Eaton each had one goal to contribute to the “technical” victory that triggered the mercy rule with 17 minutes left in the game. All of those eight-goal wins happened during a current seven-game winning streak for MMA. 

MMA plays in a quarterfinal game at 2 p.m. Saturday against Crocker (18-6) at Osage High School after taking time to enjoy the historic win. Goodwin said the boys deserved it and is grateful for the support from athletic director Brian Meny, the parents, alumni, current cadets, faculty and staff at school. He said this shows the strength of the MMA brotherhood, which is known by his “phenomenal” new assistant coach this season, Padilla.

“I hope this moment stays with our boys forever,” Goodwin said. “It's something they can look back on in their lives and a huge achievement. However, we now have our eyes firmly on the state competition and want to advance as far as we can.”