The No. 1 seed Hilmar High boys soccer team surged through Millennium High on Thursday afternoon after scoring four goals in the opening round of the Division VI CIF Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs,  and walking out with a 4-1 win.

“We played kick ball in the first half, so not a good first half at all, but it was a win and we will need to be tougher in the next round if we want to advance,” said Hilmar head coach Louie Bettencourt.

Hilmar's Michael Cardoso put the Yellowjackets up 1-0 after scoring a goal in the 33rd minute. Eleven minutes into the second half, the No. 8 seed Millennium tied the game at 1-1 before setting off fireworks in the Hilmar sideline which then went off, scoring three unanswered goals.

Adrian Yepez scored the go-ahead goal about two minutes later to go up 2-1, then the team began to apply pressure and it led to the third goal from Brian Millan.

Yepez found the net again at 79 minute mark to essentially send his team into the semifinal round.

“We need to play two halves if we want to win, it's important next game will be critical,” Bettencourt said. “I think we settled down a little bit in the second with better passing, which is what started to take control of the game, instead of playing kick ball.”

The next game for Hilmar will be at home against the No. 4 seeded team Encina at 3 p.m. Wednesday.