Waynesville senior soccer player Caleb Rodriguez likes playing Parkview in October district tournaments.  He must.  Last year, he scored a school single-game record seven goals as the Tigers whipped the Vikings 10-1 in district semifinal action.  He enjoyed it so much that he scored seven more Tuesday night in this year’s 11-2 district semifinal romp at Tiger Stadium.  The big win moves WHS into Thursday’s championship game against Springfield Central, a rematch of last year’s game won by the Tigers.  

Rodriguez opened the game’s scoring in the eleventh minute.  When D.J. Kaaihue added one off an assist from Hunter Ball just 1:17 later it appeared to be the Tigers’ night.  But Gustavo Cruz soon nailed a 30-yarder to give the Vikings life.  Rodriguez scored off another Hunter Ball pass in the 21st minute and Alberto Reyes struggled to maintain possession against heavy pressure to find the right side netting with 11:35 left.  However, Cruz scored again for the Vikings with one second remaining and at halftime it was 4-2, too close for comfort.  

The first fourteen minutes of the second half saw a lot of back and forth and then Reyes scored off a ball from Rodriguez.  They liked that so much that minutes later it was Rodriguez scoring off a Reyes ball.  Michael O’Donnel wanted to join in on the senior rush, so he scored from long range with 14:16 left. From then on it was the Caleb Rodriguez show in rapid fire:  9:31 off a through ball from Hermano Carvalho.  7:57 on a header off of a corner kick from Austin Cartwright.  6:53 off a long ball served up by Robert Osborn.  Finally, with 48 seconds left the Rodriguez family had a big reason to celebrate.  Junior Varsity brother Alex, added by Coach Mike Armstrong  to the post season roster,  had been subbed into the game.  And when he slotted a nice ball to his big bro for the final goal of the game it was pizza time for the Rodriguez family.    

Defending district champion Waynesville now faces a district title rematch with Springfield Central after the top-seeded Bulldogs beat Lebanon 3-0.  That game will be played at six o’clock Thursday at Tiger Stadium.  The win was also Waynesville’s tenth of the year and marked the fifteenth consecutive season WHS has  double-figure victories in boys soccer.