COLLINSVILLE — With a 3-2 halftime lead, West Lauderdale boys soccer coach Matthew Castleberry challenged his team to put to use its dynamic playmaking ability on offense, like he had been all year.

They listened, as the Knights scored five unanswered goals to take an 8-2 win against Northeast Lauderdale on senior night.

The win assured West Lauderdale (10-14-2, 6-2) a spot in the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs, which begin next week. The Knights finished No. 2 in Region 4-4A.

“That made a big difference,” Castleberry said. “All year I’ve been fussing at them to be dynamic, to move the ball and switch the field, and I was serious by saying to them (in the huddle after the game) that they hadn’t played this way all year. They haven’t been dynamic and moved the ball with confidence, so it’s ironic they waited until senior night to do it, but hopefully, it’ll carry over into the playoffs. 

“Northeast has a good group with a couple of really good players. They have a great striker (Chap Pope) that you have to account for every time, and I think the biggest thing was kind of making some adjustments to his side in the second half and trying to figure it out.”

Josh Eakes had a hat trick for West Lauderdale, with the first of his three goals coming in the 13th minute. Pope tied it at 1-1 for the Trojans with a goal in the 18th minute, but West Lauderdale regained the lead two minutes later with a goal by Sam Balderas.

In the 28th minute, Northeast Lauderdale’s Matthew Wolvers hit a header that bounced off a Knights player and into the net, tying the game at 2-2. Eakes’ direct kick in the 38th minute sailed just above the Northeast Lauderdale keeper’s reach, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead at intermission.

The Knights took control early in the second half, with Daniel Galvan hitting a goal in the 43rd minute and Chance Davidson scoring two minutes later to make it 5-2 West Lauderdale. Otoneil Alonso had a goal in the 52nd minute, Eakes scored his third goal in the 64th minute and Galvan added his second goal in the 66th minute.

“Once we finally got the momentum, we just started scoring as much as we could, because we knew they had a playmaker (in Pope), so one goal for them could give them the momentum, so it felt good scoring so many,” Davidson said.

Davidson was one seven seniors honored Tuesday, along with David Betancort, Connor Breazelle, Jon Byrd, Christian Dutton, Braden Luke and JJ Rowcliff.

“I’ve been playing since I was in seventh grade, so to finally score on senior night, it felt good, especially against a good rival against (the Trojans) and to be able to get in the playoffs next week,” Davidson said.

Castleberry, in his second year coaching at West Lauderdale, expressed his gratitude for this year’s senior group, especially since many of them were backups last year during when the Knights made it all the way to the Class 4A state title game.

“They’ve been great,” Castleberry said. “Some of these guys didn’t get a ton of playing time last year, and it was kind of hard coming out here with eight seniors. We have seven this year, we’ll have seven next year, so we’ll lose 22 in three years, which is a huge number. These guys have been patient when they’ve needed to be patient, and they’ve done good things when they’ve needed to do good things, and when it was their time to step up, they’ve been ready to play.”

West Lauderdale awaits its first-round opponent in postseason play.

WEST LAUDERDALE 10, NORTHEAST LAUDERDALE 1

Senior Railey Mayatt had a hat trick for West Lauderdale, and fellow seniors Anna Claire Nance and Lucy Green each added a goal apiece as the Lady Knights beat Northeast Lauderdale 10-1 on senior night.

Alice Williamson and Bailee Fairley each had two goals for West Lauderdale, and Lilly Vincent added a goal to round out the Lady Knights’ scoring.

Savannah Cunningham scored Northeast Lauderdale’s lone goal in the first half.

Keeper Kristin Hayes, Mia Aviles and Kathryn Knuth were honored on senior night along with Mayatt and Nance, Green.

“These seniors have been with us since they were seventh graders, and all of them have been committed for that long to what we’ve been trying to achieve here, so them and the two classes before them have contributed to most of our success,” West Lauderdale assistant coach Sonja Rowell said of this year’s senior class.

The Lady Knights (17-1-3) await their first-round opponent in postseason play, while Northeast Lauderdale (12-7, 4-4) will host Southeast Lauderdale Thursday.