The Greenwood boys’ soccer team struck first in a back-to-back matchup with Bowling Green, downing the Purples 3-1 on Tuesday at Bowling Green Junior High School.

In the first of two matchups between the two schools in three days, senior Steven Valero recorded a hat trick as Greenwood (5-4-1 overall, 2-2 District 14) pulled even in the district standings with the Purples – with a chance to sweep the season series and secure a tiebreaker against BG with a win at home Thursday.

“All these district games are so tough,” Greenwood coach Luis Llontop said. “You have to be ready to play against any team in the district. It’s a huge effort from my kids.”

Valero set the tone for the Gators with two goals in an eight-minute span late in the first half. Valero’s first goal came in the 30th minute, when he powered past a defender on the left side to break free and fire a shot past BG keeper Oscar Zoellner.

Eight minutes later, Valero tried to get a shot off in the box, but it was partially deflected leading to a scramble for the ball that Valero won – getting his second goal of the half and giving Greenwood a 2-0 advantage.

“I tried to bicycle kick it and then it went through the goalie,” Valero said. “I saw the ball in the ground in front of me, so I slid and kicked it in.”

Bowling Green (5-8-1, 2-2) got some momentum 10 minutes into the second half when a foul in the box led to a penalty kick by Naid Gagulic.

The Purples tried to turn up the pressure to push across the tying goal, before Valero struck again in the 65th minute with a quick strike from just outside the penalty box that pushed the lead back to two goals – essentially sealing the victory.

“Steven’s older brother Benito was a pretty good player back when I was over there at Greenwood,” BG coach Scott Gural said. “Steven just had a tremendous night. Hats off to them. They worked hard. They beat us by two goals. We deserved it. Hopefully we will have a better performance on Thursday.”

Greenwood outshot Bowling Green 19-15, with a 9-7 edge in shots on goal. Jax Buchanan finished with six saves for the Gators.

“We talked about (our defense) before the game,” Llontop said. “The last game we played we had some mistakes we made, but tonight we only made one mistake and they put it in. In this district, one mistake can cost you the game. If we have a bad night it might be different.”

Bowling Green will look to take the rematch, which will be at Greenwood at 7 p.m. Thursday.