By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Coming off two unsuccessful outings, the Lopez Lobos were determined to get back into the win column Saturday against Harlingen South.
They did just that.
The Lobos remained co-leaders in the District 32-6A soccer race by breaking out of a 2-2 deadlock and defeating the Hawks 4-2 with a pair of goals during the final 20 minutes at Brownsville Sports Park.
Saturday’s win allows Lopez to stay tied with Brownsville Veterans Memorial atop the 32-6A standings. Each team is 7-2 with 22 points. Brownsville Veterans defeated Rivera 2-0 on Friday.
South is fifth place in 32-6A at 4-5 with 14 points.
During its two previous games, Lopez had lost to Brownsville Veterans 2-0 and to Los Fresnos 2-1 on penalty kicks.
“This was a win we needed just to get back on track and get out of that little slump we went through,” Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said. “I think we had been shooting ourselves in the foot. We were committing too many mistakes and the other team capitalized on them. We played better today, and that’s a good thing for us going into our stretch of games (next week against Rivera and Hanna) in the second half of district.
“I think we had just as many (scoring) opportunities today as we had (Tuesday) against Los Fresnos, and today we capitalized on them,” Escandon added. “We create a lot of opportunities, and they’ve been there all season long. We gamble a lot (offensively), and today it paid off. It’s been paying off except for those two games against (Brownsville) Veterans and Los Fresnos. It doesn’t matter who has more ball control and possession. It’s who scores the goals.”
A medium-range shot out of a crowd by Ulysses Ortegon gave the Lobos a 1-0 lead 11 minutes into the match. Twelve minutes later, during the 23rd minute, the Lobos were called for tripping in the area. South’s Nick Lerma converted the ensuing penalty kick with a strong shot into the left corner of the net to tie the score at 1. That’s the way the half ended.
The Lobos went up by one goal again, 2-1, eight minutes into the second half when Jose Echevarria tallied from about 12 yards away.
Echevarria’s score came during the 48th minute, and during the 56th minute the Hawks pulled even again at 2 when Izui Villasana attacked down the middle and got the ball to go into the net on the bounce past the goalkeeper.
“I felt like we had a good chance to win the game,” South coach Julian Robles said. “It was going to come down to mistakes. We made them, and they didn’t. I thought we played a good, solid game.
“Lopez is a heck of a team, and we knew it was going to be hard to beat them here at the Sports Park,” Robles added. “It’s just a real tough loss, but there’s still a lot of the season left and that’s what we’re looking forward to. This wasn’t a game that we absolutely had to win, but it really would have been nice (to get the victory).”
After South’s second goal, the Lobos seemed to become more determined defensively and didn’t really allow the Hawks much more in the way of opportune scoring chances. At the same time, the Lobos stepped up their attack on the other end of the field.
With 20 minutes remaining, Echevarria received a pass from the right side and fired a well-placed, medium-range shot into the goal to put the Lobos in the lead for good at 3-2.
Then with six minutes to go, Arturo Salazar’s goal from close range gave the Lobos a 4-2 advantage and a little more breathing room.
Escandon said winning Saturday brought a measure of consolation to his team, which was dealing with the death of a teammate’s father.
“Ruben Sauceda, No. 4, is one of our captains, and his father, Roberto Sauceda, just passed away,” the Lopez coach said. “The whole Lobo family has him and his family in our prayers.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.