By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — Winds in excess of 30 mph made it tough on Brownsville Porter and Harlingen South to get much of anything going offensively during their BISD Showcase game Friday at Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
Alvaro Benavidez’s goal at the 28-minute mark of the first half was sufficient for the Cowboys to hang on for a 2-0 win and their second victory of the day, having dispatched Brownsville Rivera 2-1 earlier.
Porter coach Jose Espitia said his team trailed 1-0 at the half against Rivera before scoring twice to rally and earn a win against a city rival.
During the match against Harlingen South, Espitia said he was impressed by his team’s ability to create several scoring opportunities and to adjust to the conditions by opting to make shorter passes on the ground.
“(Benavides) did really well,” Espitia said. “It was him and (Sabas Pena), they came out and (Benavides) got a good shot.”
A late penalty goal from Rodolfo Armendariz gave Porter an additional cushion.
The Cowboys dominated possession and controlled the flow of the game, though the heavy winds did thwart many longer pass attempts from both sides.
“That’s our style of play,” Espitia said. “We don’t have the size and strength that other teams have. … We’ve got to use our advantages. We’ve got the skill and we’ve got the quickness, so we try to use that and maintain possession of the ball and to not (commit) too many fouls.”
With 16 minutes remaining in the half, Jose Mateos led a push for Porter that generated several rebounds and a frantic scramble in front of the goal, but the Cowboys failed to convert.
Harlingen South’s Christian Hernandez took a corner kick with less than five minutes to play in the first half, and it was promptly cleared away by the Porter defense.
Most of the Hawks’ chances came from corner kicks and free kicks, as Porter kept Harlingen South from getting any clean looks from close range.
Fernando Munoz, fresh off the bench for Porter, had a shot go wide right from inside the box with the Cowboys going against the wind with six minutes to go in the second half.
With two minutes to go, Harlingen South’s Jesus Hernandez was issued a misconduct for his tackle of Porter’s Rosendo Cantu inside the box.
Armendariz took the penalty shot for Porter and buried it into the lower right corner of the net, past the outstretched fingertips of Hawks goalkeeper Luis Beadle to double the Cowboys’ lead and seal the win