ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
The Laredo LBJ Wolves have traveled to Brownsville to open the UIL soccer season every year for nearly two decades.
LBJ’s trip to the Rio Grande Valley to begin the 2019 season was particularly rewarding this time since the Wolves won the second annual Southmost Classic.
In Saturday’s championship match at Porter, LBJ prevailed over Lopez 1-0 on penalty kicks (5-4) after a scoreless 60 minutes of regulation play.
The three-day, 13-team tournament was played at Porter and Lopez.
Also Saturday, Porter won the third-place match 4-0 over Los Fresnos at Lopez, and McAllen High edged Edinburg High 2-1 on penalty kicks (4-3) for fifth place earlier in the day at Porter.
“This tournament championship goes out to every single player that has been in the LBJ soccer program,” said Wolves coach Eddie Silva, who has guided the team since the early 2000s. “I’m proud of them because they always keep in touch with me. For example, they’ve been texting me at this tournament or contacting me on Facebook to wish our current team the best of luck. They tell our boys to go all out.
“Our past players really know what it means to beat teams like Rivera, Porter and now Lopez,” Silva added. “It speaks highly of my boys, and I’m very proud of them.”
The most eventful moment in regulation during Saturday’s final came with about one minute left in the first half when a Lopez player was red-carded for apparently throwing an elbow when he and an LBJ player were involved in a collision at midfield while battling for the ball.
Despite being down a player, the Lobos remained in close contention throughout the rest of the match.
Following a scoreless 60 minutes, it all came down to penalty kicks since no overtime was played. It took six players from each team attempting PKs before the outcome was decided 5-4 in LBJ’s favor.
During the PKs, Lopez goalkeeper Andrew Flores blocked one LBJ attempt, and Wolves goalkeeper Jorge Plata stopped two tries by the Lobos.
LBJ’s Gabriel Garcia, the 11th player to attempt a PK, converted his try to give his team a 5-4 edge. Moments later, when the 12th player stepped up for his attempt, Plata blocked a second Lopez PK to clinch the victory.
Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said just getting a chance to play as many matches as possible during the tournament was a big benefit for the Lobos.
“It helped us a lot,” Escandon said. “We got to see some players we hadn’t seen in a real-game situation, and they responded very well. I think we’re improving and going in the right direction. From our scrimmages to now, there’s been a lot of improvement. That’s a big plus for us.”
When asked about playing with one less player for more than half the title match following the red card, the Lopez coach said, “We just told the guys it was a mental thing and to keep playing hard. Even though we were short a player, our guys kept pushing up to go for the win. Unfortunately we didn’t get it, but it was one of those situations where we have to prepare the players for what might happen again.
“It’s better that something like that happens now (and they learn how to deal with it), than have it happen when it counts for something more important (such as in District 32-5A),” Escandon added. “I think there was a lot to learn from this game that should help us down the road.”
The championship match of the inaugural Southmost Classic one year ago saw Porter edge Lopez 1-0.