By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Surprising news in the District 32-5A boys soccer race came out of Valley View on Friday night.
The Brownsville Porter Cowboys rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat the Tigers 2-1 and knock them out of a share of the lead in 32-5A.
Brownsvillle Veterans Memorial, a 6-1 winner against Mercedes on Friday, now has sole possession of the district lead with a 9-1 record and 27 points.
Valley View is now second at 8-2 with 24 points.
Porter and Brownsville Lopez share third place. Porter is 6-4 with 20 points, and Lopez is 7-3 with 20 points.
The top teams will be playing each other during the coming week.
Porter narrowly lost to Valley View 2-1 in Brownsville during the first round of district Jan. 31. Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said his team stuck with its same game plan in the second-round rematch.
“We told our players to understand they are a part of a winning program and to play like it,” Espitia said. “We made sure they had the right mindset and to (just) worry about playing (hard) and imposing our style of play.
“I am super proud of our team for this great victory, but this is just one win for us,” the Porter coach added. “We have to focus on the next one (against Lopez on Tuesday) to secure a playoff berth.”
Espitia said the Cowboys almost won Jan. 31.
“We were very close the first time,” he said. “We played a man down the last 15 minutes. I think our boys played with a lot of heart and intensity this time. Our game plan was the same, which was to pressure up front and get them off their game. But this time we were Porter and were not worried about who they were or who they had in their lineup.”
Espitia said his guys did a good job of weathering the pressure on the road.
“Valley View scored first,” he said. “They were very aggressive on the attack the first 10 minutes. Once they scored, they backed down a little, and our boys got into the game.
“By the time we knew it, we were in complete control,” he added. “(Porter’s) Xavier Mateos came in after the 15th minute, and he scored on a counter 10 minutes later to tie the game at 1 (and make the score even at halftime).
“The second half was all Porter’s,” he added. “We scored our second goal off a throw-in from right side. Ossiris Hernandez drove the ball in and passed it back to Brandon Montes, who made the winning goal six minutes before the end of regulation.”
Porter next plays at Lopez at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. They went to PKs during the first round.
Brownsville Veterans plays host to Valley View, also at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.