By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
PHARR — At a juncture in the season when the intensity level rises and the defense tightens up, the PSJA Southwest boys soccer team seemed well-suited for the challenge.
After all, this is the Javelinas’ third consecutive postseason appearance. And the collective mindset going into Friday’s bi-district game against Edinburg Vela was that it was just another game.
It certainly seemed that way, even for Francisco Montoya, who was making his playoff debut. The sophomore midfielder played poised under pressure, netting two goals — one on a set piece, the other charging the box — to help lift PSJA Southwest to a 4-2 victory at PSJA Stadium.
“It was a normal game,” Montoya said in Spanish. “I know it’s an important game, but I was confident in my teammates and I was confident in myself.”
By virtue of Friday’s win, the Javelinas are advancing to the area round once again, where it will face Calallen, winners of its bi-district match over Eagle Pass on Friday.
The difference in attitude between this year’s Southwest team and the past two seasons?
“This is the first time that I see them play like it’s another game,” Javelinas coach Jesus Palomin said. “(The stakes) didn’t get to their heads this time.”
If there was one distinct advantage Southwest had over Edinburg Vela, it was that. The SaberCats, in only third year as a school, had yet to reach the playoffs until this season, and it showed on a couple of breakdowns Friday.
“My kids gave it their best,” Vela coach Americo Cortez said. “It was just a matter of experience. We were matching all the way, but we made a few more mistakes than they did and this is what happened.”
For the most part, the Javelinas controlled possession of the ball Friday. They outshot the SaberCats by a wide margin, and they kept them from getting their first shot on goal until 26 minutes were left in the opening half.
The boost in offense has been one of the key storylines in Southwest’s season, so far. Last year, they posted a total of 15 goals. With three weeks left in the regular season in 2015, they had more than doubled that figure.
Palomin credits the style of play — fast paced, quick touches on the ball — for the turnaround. Last year, they usually played from behind in the second half. Now, they find themselves ahead by intermission, as they did Friday when they were up 2-1.
“This year, it’s just another year of unity,” said Palomin, who returned seven starters despite graduating four. “That’s the difference. This group has been together, and we’re finishing in the first half.”
Montoya scored the game’s opening goal on a set shot from 23 yards out. After Vela’s Edgar Tejada, who scored both of his team’s goal in similar fashion, tied the game three minutes later, Southwest’s Jose Benavides charged the box and headed in a bouncing ball from about 5 yards out.
In the second half, after Montoya drilled a 20-yarder, Tejada scored on a set piece, tucking the ball into the right corner of the net, as the Southwest goalkeeper stood flat-footed, watching it go in.
The insurance goal for the Javelinas, though, came with 13 minutes left to play, when Luis Escudero, the district’s scoring champion, took a pass from midfield that fell about 15 yards from the net. The goalkeeper raced forward in an effort to collect the ball, but Escudero sailed it over the goalie’s head and dribbled forward a couple steps to guide it in gently, uncontested.
“They had the experience, they had the speed,” Cortez said of Southwest. “They were more aggressive than we were. But our kids got a little taste (of the playoffs).”