By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
CORPUS CHRISTI — The Lopez Lady Lobos had their share of shots on goal but just couldn’t get any of them to find the mark in a 2-0 loss to Laredo United on Friday at Cabaniss Field.
The Class 6A area-round playoff victory advances the District 29-6A runner-up Lady Longhorns to next week’s regional quarterfinals, where they will play Edinburg Economedes or Del Rio.
The Lopez girls captured the district championship for the second time in three seasons this year, but that was not enough. They had hoped to return to the regional tournament again, like they did in 2014.
In a breezy night in Corpus Christi, United turned out to be the better team, scoring one goal during each half.
“I’m just proud to have my seniors who are four-year members of the varsity out here with me,” Lady Lobos coach Alex Macias said. “They had already gone to San Antonio (for the regional tournament) a couple years ago, and I know they were thinking we could do it again. But sometimes things just don’t go your way.
“United has a good team,” Macias added. “They had a few (scoring) chances and they took advantage of them. We had ours and we didn’t score, so they came out on top. Good for them.”
With 11 minutes left in the first half, a goal by United’s Marta Perez made it 1-0. That score stood until almost the very end. With 21 seconds to go, United’s Gabby Garza sent a ball into an open net to complete the final tally.
“We knew Lopez was No. 1 in their district and we heard that they were pretty good,” United coach Jerry Vera said. “We prepared for them as best we could. We were kind of nervous going into the game, but we did our job. We were able to stop their attacks and we were able to capitalize on some of our chances. This win feels pretty good.”
Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial 2, Porter 1, OT
CORPUS CHRISTI — The Porter Cowgirls’ first trip to the UIL state playoffs in soccer didn’t last quite as long as they wanted.
The District 32-5A runner-up Cowgirls were eliminated 2-1 in overtime by the District 30-5A fourth-place Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial Lady Eagles in the Class 5A area playoffs on Friday at Cabaniss Field.
“It was pretty even, and it’s the playoffs, so anything can happen,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “If there are no mistakes, there are no goals, and we made a mistake (in OT). They took advantage of it (and won).
“What can I say?” Gracia added. “Our girls gave it all they had, so what else can you ask for. No one expected us to get to the second round and here we are. I just wish we were still playing. The good thing is we’ve got a young team (and most of the players will be back).”
Early in the match, a high ball came in from the right side and the Lady Eagles’ Sara Banda nudged it in from close range to give her team a 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Eagles held that lead until midway through the second half when Porter’s Carla Longoria scored a goal to even the match at 1.
Corpus Christi Veterans went ahead for good 2-1 with one minute remaining in the first OT period on a shot taken from the left side that went past the goalkeeper and settled into the right corner of the net.
The Lady Eagles now advance to next week’s 5A regional quarterfinals to face Sharyland Pioneer or Victoria East.