SAN ANTONIO —
After a goal by Valley View junior forward Pablo Torre evened the game at 4, the Tigers and the Kingwood Park Panthers seemed headed to overtime.
With 6:20 left in regulation, Panthers forward Jesus Cervantes found himself deep in enemy territory. In one swift move, Cervantes lost a Tigers defender and netted his second goal of the night to give the Panthers a 5-4 victory during the Class 5A state semifinals at Dub Farris Stadium on Tuesday night.
“What can I say about these kids,” Tigers head coach Gerardo Salazar said. “It was all heart and hustle all year. Nobody gave them a chance this year, yet here they are in the state semifinals. They (the Panthers) were very good. Credit to Kingwood. They did a heck of a job. Our kids told us they were faster than them, but we told them they were smarter. It was a heck of a game. We had our opportunities, but it just didn’t go our way this time.”
After jumping out to a 3-1 lead following a pair of goals from midfielder Diego Ontiveros during the 5th and 29th minute, and a score by Torre during the 19th minute, the Tigers seemed to be heading to the half with a comfortable lead.
During a span of two minutes, Panthers forward Gage Guerra, who scored his first goal with 34:12 left in the opening period, erased the Tigers’ advantage, netting goals during the 36th and 38th minute of the first half to send the game into the break tied.
With momentum on their side, the Panthers came out of the break continuing to apply pressure on the Tigers’ defense. During the 59th minute, the Panthers’ pressure paid off, with Cervantes getting into the penalty area and creating space to give his team a 4-3 lead.
Down one late in the match, it was the Tigers junior captain Torre who netted the equalizer off a penalty kick, his second goal of the match.
Still, the Panthers’ offense proved too much, scoring their fifth goal of the night late to end the Tigers’ season in the state semifinals for the third time in four years.
“Our defenders were not in the right spot,” Salazar said. “We knew they were that good. So, you cannot give them 6 or 7 yards. You’ve got to be at least 4 yards from them, because once they get away from someone, we had to be there to take away the ball. But we were a little bit back on two or three goals and they took advantage of it.”
With that, the Panthers advance to the Class 5A state championship game, taking on the Frisco Wakeland Wolverines (23-1-1) at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown per the UIL website.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ season comes to an end with an 18-2-2 overall record, taking the Panthers down to the wire while scoring the most goals against them all year by any team.
Despite the loss, Salazar believes the best is yet to come for this team, returning nine starters for the 2022 campaign, including Torre, the Valley’s leading scorer.
“We have our work cut out for next year,” Salazar said. “We’re going to work hard. These kids, they’ve tasted it now. Most of them were not here the last two years we made it to the state tournament. But now we’re going to work hard. We’re very proud not just of them but the whole Tiger family.”