The Spanish Springs Cougars pulled into a tie atop the High Desert League standings Tuesday night. This the latest into a season that the eighth-year school could make that claim.

Spanish Springs handed visiting Hug a 2-1 defeat in boys prep soccer action and continued to bolster its efforts to capture a regional playoff berth for the second straight season.

The Cougars (6-3-1 overall) and Hawks share first place in the HDL at 5-2-1, but Spanish Springs has the upper hand in any potential tiebreaker scenarios as it has swept Hug this fall. No other league foe has beaten the Hawks.

Spanish Springs grabbed a 1-0 edge when Luis Guzman took an assist from Francisco Soto and scored in the 25th minute.

Hug put together its lone scoring effort of the contest just a minute later to leave both teams facing a 1-1 tie.

The tie was intact through the intermission, but Spanish Spanish Springs scored its game-winning goal five minutes into the second half. Corey Tague handled those scoring honors on a Garrett Fausett goal.

“Hug’s a good team. I give them a lot of credit. They hold the ball well,” Cougars coach Rob Moreland said. “But I think we match up with them well. We won the balls in the back and didn’t let them breathe on offense. If you give them time and space, they’ll beat you.”

Hug got off 24 shots to Spanish Springs’ 10, but Moreland said those numbers are deceiving.

“We did a good job defensively. Everything they shot was into our goalkeeper’s hands or wide or high. We contested every shot they had,” Moreland said.

Spanish Springs will compete again Saturday when it hosts North Valleys at 11 a.m.