By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
WESLACO — After suffering a surprising defeat in the opening round of the soccer playoffs a year ago, the Porter Cowboys were determined not to let the same thing happen again.
The Cowboys scored a pair of second-half goals to break open a close match and capture a 2-0 victory against Sharyland High on Friday in a Class 5A bi-district match at Weslaco East.
“I’m very proud of my players,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “We’re a very young team and only three of them had playoff experience (going into this game). They played their hearts out tonight.
“I remember at the end of the season last year we had some of our little ones (underclassmen who are playing now) traveling with us (for our playoff game),” Espitia added. “We had a team with a lot of talent last year, and now we’ve replaced talent with heart. We’ve actually got a mix of both (qualities) on this team.
“I’m just very proud of these guys.”
The District 32-5A third-place Cowboys now move on to the area round of the playoffs and go against District 30-5A champion Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial on Tuesday. The area-round match is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Corpus Christi’s Cabaniss Field and will be followed at 8 p.m. by the area match between the Rivera boys and San Antonio Southwest.
Everyone on the Porter sideline was elated with Friday’s victory.
“This is just an amazing feeling because last year we got eliminated in the first round,” said Porter’s Oscar Garcia, a junior midfielder who scored his team’s second goal on a penalty kick with a little more than 11 minutes remaining. “We had to win this game and keep on going. We’re more together (now as we continue playing this season), we’ve gotten to know each other better and we’re getting more confident (in our abilities).”
After a scoreless, back-and-forth first half, the Cowboys registered their first goal during the 52nd minute. Porter’s Christian Maldonado centered the ball from the right side and teammate Edward Rodriguez, situated near the left post, headed it in.
“We displayed a lot of heart (in getting this win) and we’re presenting ourselves (and wanting to continue our success),” said Rodriguez, also a junior midfielder.
The clincher for the Cowboys came during the 69th minute when a Porter player was pulled down on the left side of the field in the penalty area. The Cowboys were awarded a penalty kick and Garcia blasted his attempt off the crossbar and into the goal for a 2-0 advantage for his team.
Sharyland High, the District 31-5A runner-up, ended its season, falling to a Brownsville team for the second year in a row. Last year it was a loss to Lopez in the playoffs.
“It was a pretty even match,” Rattlers coach Reveriano Hernandez said. “I think they just outran us. That’s pretty much it. We kind of ran out of gas at the end and that was the difference.
“I think Porter was a little more hungry than we were tonight,” he added. “They have a young team and the future looks bright for them, and for us, too.”