By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Harlingen South has been looking for a little more explosiveness on the offensive end of the soccer field.
Nick Lerma was more than happy to provide it during Tuesday’s District 32-6A match against Los Fresnos at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
Lerma’s hat trick and a timely stop of a penalty kick by South goalkeeper Nathan Flores highlighted a 4-2 victory on the road by the Hawks against the Falcons.
The win gives the Hawks a 1-2 record in 32-6A with four points. The Falcons are 1-2 with three points.
“We were due to score some goals,” Hawks coach Julian Robles said after the match. “We had been missing a lot of our chances, and we’ve been working on it quite a bit (in practice). Our players put in the work (and the goals came tonight).
“It was a sloppy win, but we’ll take it,” Robles added. “In this district, you take any points you can get.”
With 10 minutes left in the first half, Lerma dribbled the ball across the middle from the left side and fired a rocket into the net from about 12 yards away to make it 1-0 for South.
Barely two minutes later, Lerma converted a penalty kick for the Hawks to boost the lead to 2-0.
Los Fresnos then came alive to cut the lead to 2-1 on a textbook crossing shot into the right corner by Juan Lozoya with just less than five minutes to go before intermission.
Three minutes into the second half, the Hawks went up by two goals again when Bobby Rodriguez tallied from close range to make it 3-1.
The Falcons threatened to pull within one goal for the second time in the match when they were awarded another penalty kick with 32 minutes remaining. However, this time Flores blocked the PK attempt of Lozoya as South retained some breathing room.
Lerma sent a medium-range shot into the goal from the right side with 26 minutes left, completing his hat track and providing a 4-1 advantage for his team.
Los Fresnos was not about to give up, even down by three goals, and the Falcons found the net on a header by Jaime Casanova with 23 minutes to go to account for the final score of 4-2.
“South is one of the top teams in our district, and they’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Los Fresnos coach Javier Navarrete said. “This game was a good measuring stick for us, although I thought our guys came with a little less intensity (than we should have).
“We had a lot of opportunities that we didn’t make and then we missed a penalty kick, so we just needed to finish (our scoring chances),” Navarrete added. “We would have been in the game.”
District 32-6A play continues at 7:30 p.m. Friday as Los Fresnos visits Harlingen High and South goes against Rivera at Sams Memorial Stadium.