MIAMI — Damien Barker John put on a clinic Sunday as Huntsville City FC rolled to a 4-1 win over Inter Miami II, enchancing HCFC’s chances of hosting a playoff match.
Barker John scored his third goal of the season and added a pair of assists for the Boys in Blue who scored three unanswered second-half goals to wrap up the victory.
With the win, Huntsville City (13-8-6), which clinched a first-ever playoff berth last week, is in fourth place in the MLS NEXT Pro Eastern Conference with 49 points and one match left in the regular season.
They are just a point ahead of Chattanooga (12-6-8, 48 points) who have two matches to play due to last Wednesday’s weather-suspended match in Atlanta.
The top eight teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs and the top four clubs will host playoff matches.
In Sunday’s win, HCFC unleased a season-high 31 shots, including 18 on Inter Miami II’s 16-year-old goalkeeper Max Ponikarovsky.
Maximus Ekk broke the scoreless match with his second goal of the season on a nifty pass from Barker John just one minute into the second half.
Midway through the half, Real Gill hit a bender from the edge of the penalty area, with Barker John assisting, for a 2-1 lead.
Just four minutes later, Barker John scored unassisted on a putback when Ponikarovsky deflected Alan Carleton’s shot.
Carleton, with his team-leading 12th goal, wrapped up the scoring at the 90-minute mark.
