By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Coming off an unexpected loss, the Porter Cowboys showed their true colors Tuesday against Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
In a back-and-forth District 32-5A soccer match, the Cowboys rallied from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1 to win 3-2 over the Chargers at the Brownsville Veterans’ field.
The result leaves both teams tied for the 32-5A lead with 4-1 records and 12 points apiece.
Porter was coming off last Friday’s surprising 2-0 setback at Donna High.
“For one reason or another we ended up losing that game over in Donna,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “The main purpose of it was to give us a wake-up call. It was actually a loss we needed because we hadn’t been playing the way we should. That loss shook up the team. We were only playing (and hustling) at 50 or 60 percent against Donna.
“This was a total team effort tonight,” he added. “Everyone played hard.”
Midway through the first half, the Chargers took a 1-0 lead when Aldo LeKach headed the ball into the goal on the bounce.
Barely a minute later, with 18 and a half minutes to go before halftime, Agustin Pizano scored from close range for Porter, leaving it deadlocked 1-1 through intermission.
LeKach scored on a crossing shot from the left side to the right corner of the goal midway through the second half to put the Chargers on top again 2-1.
When Porter came alive for the next two goals to secure the win that revived the Cowboys’ spirits after their defeat at Donna High.
Anthony Cuellar drilled home a rocket of a direct kick that went off the hands of the Chargers goalkeeper and into the net to pull Porter even for the second time at 2-2. Cuellar’s spectacular goal from 30-plus yards came with 18 minutes remaining.
Porter then went ahead for the first time and eventually won on a high header into the net by Jose Pardillo off a throw-in taken from the left side with nine minutes left.
“I think it was a pretty good game overall as far as being pretty even,” said Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez, whose team was coming off Monday’s 2-1 victory over Lopez in a game that was resumed with 28:06 to go after being suspended due to heavy rain on Friday. “We had a couple of chances to score at the end that we just couldn’t push in. They pushed one more in than we did tonight.
“I think my guys left everything they had on the field,” he added. “I’m proud of them.”
District action continues Friday for both teams as Brownsville Veterans plays host to Donna North and Porter travels to Mercedes.