By MARIO AGUIRRE | STAFF WRITER
LA JOYA — Having surrendered two unanswered goals during a three-minute stretch Tuesday, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln coach Victor Ramos called for his players to show better focus “every second” of competition going forward.
But Ramos was also sympathetic to his team following a 2-1 loss to Brownsville Lopez in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals, questioning the officiating that led to seven Juarez-Lincoln infractions, including six yellow cards.
“It was just bad refereeing,” Ramos said. “We couldn’t play, we couldn’t play. Everything was against us, and it really affected us.”
Ramos chalked up both Lopez goals as “mistakes” his team made by not concentrating the way he’s seen them do this season, as the Huskies claimed the No. 2 seed in District 30-6A before embarking on their third trip to the regional quarterfinals in four years.
Juarez-Lincoln defeated Brownsville Rivera, last year’s state champions, on Friday to advance to the third round of the playoffs. But against Lopez, the Huskies struggled to find any type offensive fluidity.
Their lone goal came with 27:06 left to play, after the Lobos scored two unanswered, when Didier Sanchez found the back of the net to slice the deficit in half.
It came after Lopez’s Ernest Pulido broke a scoreless tie from about 12 yards out, with 36:01 remaining, followed by Jose Echavarria’s goal with 33:21 on the clock.
“They’re very well-balanced back there, so I was telling the kids it had to be a two-touch shot or a quick shot. We can’t dribble or make many passes, if we want to score. It has to be quick,” said Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon, whose team will take on Schertz Clemens in the next round.
“These guys, they’re tall, so we couldn’t do anything in the air with them. We had to keep it on the ground.”
After Sanchez scored during the second half, the Huskies fired off two more shots on goal, but failed to convert either try as freshman goalkeeper Andrew Flores preserved the win.
“It was just tough to score,” Ramos said. “We had the chances, and like I said, two clear penalty kicks (that never materialized). We tried to play the ball, and every time we made contact with the opposing team, they gave us a yellow card. It was impossible to play with these kind of referees.”
Everything considered, Ramos said his team should carry plenty of promise next year, given the players expected back. In a rebuilding year in 2015, the Huskies advanced to the regional quarterfinals before losing to Brownsville Rivera in penalty kicks.
This year, they fell short once again, albeit in less dramatic fashion.
“It was a good experience,” Ramos said. “We still have young players (back next year), so we’ll learn from this game. It’s just tough. Whenever you’re playing 14 against 11, it’s a tough obstacle to overcome.”