By EDWARD SEVERN, Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — The Brownsville Porter Cowboys are District 32-5A champions after a 2-1 victory against the Brownsville Lopez Lobos on Friday night.
“I am excited for the kids,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “Especially the way they responded in the second half. We did not have a good first half. We knew it was going to be tough, and it could have gone either way.”
Porter’s Jesus Maciel broke the deadlock with a left-footed strike during the final minutes of the match.
“It was a great goal,” Maciel said. “My friend Julian (Gallegos) passed me the ball, and I am not lefty but I just tried to hit it hard. It felt great when everyone was chanting my name.”
The Cowboys opened the scoring in the first half, when forward Isiah Garza was played into the box. Garza calmly struck his shot low and hard to beat the goalie during the 14th minute.
Porter did not have the lead very long. Lopez leveled during the 23rd minute following a rebound from a shot that smacked the crossbar.
After the two goals in the first half, the game calmed down as both sides battled the wind from the cold front.
Lopez looked threatening with the wind at its back, especially during set pieces. Porter kept it on the ground going into the wind and played through balls that stayed in play because of the gusts.
“The game was very hard-fought, and we were fortunate to score on that counterattack,” Espitia said. “I was getting ready for penalty kicks because I did not expect it, but then again, having our forwards up there, anything can happen.”