T.J. GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
McALLEN — Like the nearby storms, McAllen Memorial threatened with its own thunder and lightning and dominated the match against visiting Laredo United.
But just like the dark clouds, the Mustangs never let it rain and frustratingly dropped their Class 6A bi-district playoff match to the Longhorns 2-1 on Wednesday night at Boxer Hernandez Stadium.
McAllen Memorial outplayed Laredo United in nearly every facet of the game — possession, set pieces, shots on goal and even defense. Except for the scoreboard, and that’s where it counts in the single elimination playoffs.
Still, first-year coach Amando Bautista was philosophical while acknowledging the Mustangs numerous close calls and inability to score despite controlling much of the game.
“What can I say? It was a tough loss at home. We beat these guys down the field, up-and-down, but unfortunately, the scoreboard doesn’t reflect that. But we’ll take it,” Bautista said. “Most of our guys are coming back. We’ll learn from this, and we’ll have a fighting chance next year, too.”
They definitely had a fighting chance Wednesday night. The game started with several great chances in the first half, including one just six minutes into the game. Memorial played against a strong wind in the first half and still put five shots on goal.
But United one-upped them when Alejandro Guerra scored at the 15:25 mark to put the Longhorns up 1-0. That margin carried into the break despite several close calls on both ends of the pitch. Outstanding play from both goalkeepers kept the scoring down.
In the second half, Memorial came out with a vengeance, slapping chance after chance at Laredo United goalie Dylan Rivas, but to no avail. The more than half dozen tries all went unanswered due to inaccurate services or shots, or saves by Rivas. Finally, with 2:30 left in the game, Memorial senior Javier Acosta tapped in a beauty over Rivas from the deep left side of the field.
But by that time, it was too little, too late. United was already up two goals thanks to the second- half score of senior Martell Martinez. The Longhorns simply ran out the remainder of time and the Mustangs’ season.
“We saw them play. We saw how we could break them, and that’s how we were breaking them easily. We just unfortunately couldn’t score,” junior forward Francisco Guerrero said. “I feel we can be better next year. Now we have playoff experience, and we can do this.”