By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
There were so many players taking penalty kicks to determine a winner in Friday afternoon’s District 32-5A soccer game between Lopez and Porter that it seemed as if everyone for both teams got an opportunity to fire a shot at the goal.
Five players attempting PKs for each team is usually the way a deadlocked game is decided.
But this became anything but a typical game after it wound up tied 1-1 following 80 minutes of regulation play. As per 32-5A rules for the second half of district, the game went directly to PKs following regulation as it bypassed 20 minutes of overtime.
In all, 34 PKs were attempted — 17 by each team — as the Lobos prevailed in the extended PK shootout 15-14 for a victory that officially goes down as a 2-1 triumph for Lopez.
It was a memorable edition of the “Battle of Southmost” played at Lopez.
The match was decided when Porter’s 17th shooter had his PK attempt blocked by Lopez goalkeeper Andrew Flores and the Lobos’ Daniel Cruz, his team’s 17th shooter, calmly stepped up and drilled the game-winner into the corner of the net to bring an end to the marathon match.
“The ability of our guys to keep pushing forward throughout the match (was what stood out to me),” Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said. “Our mentality is to always go for the win, and our athletes have bought into that.
“(Not only is it a record number of PKs for a ‘Battle of Southmost’ matchup), it’s also the first time we take that many PKs in school history (in any match),” Escandon added.
The second game in the 32-5A doubleheader matched the girls teams from Lopez and Porter. The Lady Lobos trailed 3-0 before rallying to win 4-3.
Friday marked the first games in the second round of 32-5A. Lopez’s boys are now 7-1 with 21 points, while Porter is 5-3 with 15 points. Brownsville Veterans
Memorial went into Friday’s action at 7-0 with 20 points and needed a win either outright or by PKs to retain sole possession of its conference lead.
At the end of the day, Porter would be no worse than tied for third place if Donna North picked up three points later on Friday.
“It was another one of those ‘Battles of Southmost,’” Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said. “We knew it was going to be tough, especially since it was at their place. Considering the rules in the (32-5A) district plan, we knew we were going to go straight to PKs (from regulation), so we planned for that.
“We had several chances to win the game in regulation on the counter attack, which was our plan, and Lopez had some chances, too,” Espitia added. “I think we did a good job on defense. Our guys are young, but they have a lot of heart. They can go against anybody, especially a powerhouse like Lopez.”
In the 16th minute, Porter’s Ossiris Hernandez scored from about 12 yards out on the left side to give the Cowboys a 1-0 lead. Lopez equalized during the 26th minute on a goal from close range by Jose “Chevy” Echavarria.
The 1-1 score stood until the end of regulation.
Once in penalties, the rotation lasted so long that some players for each team shot and scored twice.
Besides the game-winner by Cruz, who scored on a pair of PKs, other Lobos recording PK goals were Echavarria (two), Baltazar Cerda (two), Guadalupe Sauceda (two), Eloy Lozoya (two), Marcos Mendoza, Jesus Guajardo, Raudel Ramirez, Francisco Cisneros and Alan Reyes.
The scorers in penalties for the Cowboys included Hernandez (two), Oscar Garcia (two), Luis Romero (two), Edward Rodriguez, Erik Esparza, Brandon Montes, Diego Rivera, Jonathan Paz, Isaac Acevedo, Christian Maldonado and Rodolfo Armendariz.
Meanwhile, the Lopez girls trailed 3-0 at halftime before staging their successful comeback to win 4-3. Adamaris Rangel highlighted the victory for the Lady Lobos with a hat trick. A goal by teammate Zayra Esquivel made it 3-3.
The Lady Lobos improved to 4-4 with 12 points, while the Cowgirls are now 4-4 with 11 points.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess