By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
PORT ISABEL — The Port Isabel Tarpons took a big step toward capturing the District 32-4A soccer title with a 6-4 victory at home against the Raymondville Bearkats on a cool, breezy Tuesday night with temperatures in the upper 40s at Tarpon Stadium.
The Tarpons built a 6-2 first-half advantage and held on for the win.
In all, eight of the two teams’ combined 10 goals were scored with the wind. Port Isabel had the wind at its back the first half and Raymondville had it during the second.
“We have it in mind to make it as district champions,” said the Tarpons’ Christopher Mosqueda, a senior forward who scored two of the first four goals for the Tarpons against the Bearkats. “I have to give credit to Raymondville because they played hard and did everything they could to take the win.
“For me to score gives my teammates motivation for us to keep on scoring and keep on winning,” Mosqueda added.
Port Isabel and Raymondville came into Tuesday’s match tied for the district lead with 21 points apiece. After it was over, the Tarpons (8-1, 24 points) moved into sole possession of the 32-4A lead. They have three district games left.
Raymondville (7-3, 21 points) is now in second place with two district matches remaining for the Bearkats.
Port Isabel won 6-1 at Raymondville during the first round of district on Feb. 8.
“This was kind of a combination of two (different) halves tonight,” Port Isabel coach Josh Kirton said. “The first half we went out and played really well. We executed and took advantage of our opportunities, but a couple of our mistakes brought Raymondville back into the game.
“The second half I wasn’t pleased with our performance (in allowing two more goals), but we rode our luck out and pulled out the 6-4 win,” Kirton added. “A lot of credit goes to Raymondville because they worked their socks off for 80 minutes. They went down 4-0 and then 6-2, and they still battled back to make it a game, so hats off to those guys.”
The scoring began 11 minutes into the match when Port Isabel’s Josue Avila fired a shot into the net from about 12 yards out. Mosqueda followed with a shot from the left side about 15 yards out four minutes later, during the 15th minute, to make it 2-0.
Teammate Alan Hernandez blasted in a shot from 30-plus yards on a free kick from the left side during the 18th minute for a 3-0 advantage. Mosqueda’s second goal during the 24th minute made it 4-0.
Raymondville then scored back-to-back goals during the 32nd and 33rd minutes to pull within 4-2. Both goals were scored by Saul Garcia, who wound up with a hat trick on the night. Garcia’s first goal was a header off a corner kick taken from the right side and the second came on a long roller from the middle of the field.
Port Isabel responded with two goals, both by Angel Sarabia, within the 34th and 35th minutes to restore the Tarpons’ lead to a more comfortable margin of 6-2.
Raymondville did all the second-half scoring, but it was not enough to overtake Port Isabel’s lead.
Garcia’s third goal during the 46th minute made it 6-3. Teammate Jesus Cortez converted a penalty kick to the right corner of the net during the 53rd minute to account for the final score of 6-4.
“Both teams played hard and really well,” Raymondville coach Robert Howell said. “We played a tough game and never backed off. We kept challenging and challenging. I have to hand it to the Tarpons because they played a really great game tonight. They were real solid.
“I think it shows that both teams are playoff-bound and we’re just looking forward to the (postseason) seedings and seeing where we go next,” Howell added. “We’ve got to finish the season strong first.”