By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowboys survived some tense moments during their soccer match Tuesday against Pace to advance to the Region IV-5A Tournament later this week in Corpus Christi.
The Cowboys rallied from a 1-0 first-half deficit to prevail 2-1 over the Vikings in penalty kicks during a Class 5A regional quarterfinal game at Sams Memorial Stadium.
The score in penalties was 4-1, and officially, the result goes down as a 2-1 win for Porter.
The Cowboys decisively defeated the Vikings twice earlier this season in District 32-5A competition. But this time, the Vikings gave the Cowboys all the game they could handle.
“My heart’s still beating (fast) after this one,” said Porter coach Jose Espitia, whose 21-2-2 team remained undefeated in games going to PKs this season. “It was Brownsvillevs. Brownsville, so we knew it was going to be a very tough match.
“We told our players to be ready because those (Pace) guys were going to die on the field giving everything they had against us,” Espitia added. “Once you’re in the playoffs, whatever happened in district doesn’t matter.”
Pace was looking good at halftime with a 1-0 lead after Osvaldo “Wally” Canales put the Vikings ahead with a strong shot from 25 yards out on the right side during the 29th minute. Canales’ shot somehow made it into the goal through a narrow space between the goalkeeper and the right post, maybe with a little help from the ball going off the sliding keeper.
The Cowboys tied it at 1 with a little more than 12 minutes remaining in regulation on a shot from 15 yards out by Omar Estrada. One minute earlier, the Cowboys had a shot go off the rightpost.
After Estrada’s goal, neither team scored despite 20 minutes of overtime following 80 minutes of regulation play, so the match went to penalties.
And once in PKs, it was all Porter.
The Cowboys went first, and making their penalty attempts for Porter were Reyes Saldivar, David Pacheco, Alexis Armendariz and Daniel Briseno.
For Pace, Juan Garza went after Saldivar had made it 1-0 for Porter and converted his PK try for a 1-1 deadlock, but the next two Vikings had their attempts sail high and go off the crossbar. When Briseno found the net with his try to make it 4-1, his tally clinched the win for Porter.
“I saw this game as a Brownsville battle,” Pace coach Mario A. Zamora said. “It’s like a (coin) flip (and can go either way) once you’re in penalties. Porter won, and I’m happy for them. It’s a great honor to play against a school such as Porter that has been there in the playoffs so many times and to state, too.
“I’m proud of the way our players played against them tonight, and I wish Porter luck as they try to make it back to state,” Zamora added. “I felt we gave them a very good game.”
Pace, the 32-5A No. 3 seed, came into the match with victories against Valley View (2-0) and Corpus Christi Moody (3-1) during its first two playoff games. Porter, the 32-5A No. 2 seed, was coming off playoff wins against Sharyland Pioneer (3-0) and Laredo Cigarroa (7-1).
It was the third time the teams played each other this season. Porter won the earlier meetings 4-0 and 5-0 in 32-5A action.