McALLEN — Eighty minutes was not enough.
After giving up a 2-0 lead, the Sharyland Pioneer Diamondbacks came away with a 6-4 victory in penalty kicks over the McAllen High Bulldogs on Monday night.
With one save already under his belt during the penalty kicks, Diamondbacks junior goalkeeper David Alanis lined up with his team up 6-4, needing a save to clinch the victory.
Calm and collected, Alanis made a spectacular diving block of Bulldogs junior Sebastian Castelain’s kick to send his team home with a 2-0 record in District 31-5A play.
“I have all the confidence in the world in him (Alanis),” Diamondbacks head coach Alex Lopez said. “As a matter of fact, towards the end of the game I was telling them to hold them and we will take them to PKs. I’ll take my chances there. They did have us on our heels, so I was hoping we’d take them to penalties. I have a lot of confidence in our goalie and he’s done a great job for us.”
The Diamondbacks got off to a hot start getting on the board less than two minutes into the game, when Nic Contreras chipped in a shot inside the box to give his team a 1-0 advantage. After going down 2-0 following a goal by Bryan Caballero during the 27th minute, the Bulldogs, who were without their top goal scorer in Sergio Davila, needed a spark.
That came in the form of freshman Gael Rodriguez delivering during the 28th minute of the half. Set up by his twin brother Gabriel Rodriguez, Gael put the Bulldogs on the board by sending a shot past the goalkeeper’s arms, cutting the deficit to 2-1 going into the half.
Gael wasn’t done yet.
With 17:08 left in regulation, Gael scored his second goal of the night, hammering through a 30-yard shot to tie the game at 2.
The momentum shifted to the Bulldogs following Gael’s second goal of the night, but they were unable to capitalize, coming up short on multiple shots during the final minutes of regulation, including an attempt by Gabriel that went left of the goal as time expired.
Despite the freshman’s spark, the Bulldogs comeback fell short as the Diamondbacks held strong in penalty kicks to move to the top of the District 31-5A standings.
“This win is monumental,” Lopez said. “Last year we had a tough year. We moved into a tougher district. So, we knew that it was going to be very tough. The team has come a long way from the beginning. I think we’re clicking at the right time. To start off 2-0 in this district, we’re very excited.”
The Diamondbacks (3-1, 2-0) will look to continue their hot start as they take on Valley View Tigers at 6 p.m. Friday. The Bulldogs (8-4, 1-1) travel to take on the PSJA Memorial Wolverines 6 p.m. Friday, as well.