LocalSportsJournal.com

MONTAGUE — Mason Garcia recorded a hat trick for the Shelby boys’ soccer team Monday night in the Tigers’ convincing 5-2 victory over Montague.

The West Michigan Conference game was played at Montague.

Garcia gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the first half, finishing off a nice pass from Alan Arreola.

Later in the first half, Ignacio Ortiz sent a pass across that Carson Claeys finished with a header goal.

The Tigers increased their lead to 3-0 when Arreola buried a shot that eluded the Wildcats’ keeper.

Montague got on the board in the second half, but Shelby continued to look sharp on offense and tht resulted in two more goals from Garcia to cap the game’s scoring.

Ismael Valdez continued his solid play in goal for the Tigers, backed by the fine defensive play of Nathan Miller, Isaias Cortina, Logan Selig, Mauricio Castillo and Zach Horton.

Ortiz, Castillo and Miguel led the middle by distributing the ball and contributing to the offensive attack.

It was the second straight win for the Tigers (3-4, 1-0 WMC), and first in the conference. Shelby is at home Wednesday for a conference match with Whitehall at 5:30 p.m.

The loss was the fifth in a row for the Wildcats (2-6, 0-1 WMC), and they take on Hart at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday.