By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The last time they met was one year ago with a trip to the UIL state tournament on the line.
The stakes weren’t quite the same when the Rivera Raiders and Lopez Lobos met for the first time this season Tuesday at Sams Memorial Stadium. But it was still a pretty important soccer match between two squads regarded as front-runners in the District 32-6A race.
This time, Rivera was the winner 4-2 as all the goals were scored during the opening half.
Leo Martinez and Leo Casanova gave Lopez (1-2 district) a 2-0 advantage with goals during the first seven minutes of the match. On both scores, a centering pass from the left side allowed the Lopez players to beat the Rivera goalkeeper and register tallies from almost point-blank range during the third and seventh minutes.
“I give our players a lot of credit,” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “It’s hard when you fall behind 2-0 against a good team like Lopez.”
The Raiders (3-0 district) then appeared to become more determined and answered with goals by Eliseo Ortiz, Alexis Herrera, Isidro “Chelin” Martinez and Hernan Cruz to go up 4-2 by intermission.
During the 11th minute, Ortiz, attacking down the middle, nudged the ball forward with his head to break free from a defender and the oncoming goalkeeper before he sent a strong, uncontested shot into an open net. Herrera’s shot from the right side during the 19th minute found the mark and tied the score at 2.
At that point, the Raiders, who had won their first two district games by scores of 7-0 and 3-0, were far from done with their rally.
During the 24th minute, Martinez had a clear shot from the right side as he found himself in a 1-on-1 situation with the Lobos’ goalkeeper. The Lopez keeper reacted by trying to cut off the angle to the far left corner of the goal, but “Chelin” sent a well-placed shot just inside the right post that settled into the back of the net to put the Raiders ahead for good 3-2.
“We know every game in our district is going to be hard,” Martinezsaid. “We came out and showed what we’ve been practicing, and we ended up with the result that we wanted at the end of the game.
“Thanks to everyone who came out to watch the match on such a rainy night,” he added.
Cruz’s blast from about 30 yards during the 38th minute, just before halftime, made it 4-2.
The two teams will play each other again Feb. 27 at Lopez during the second round of district, and, who knows, maybe they will see each other one more time this season in the playoffs.
For now, the Raiders can savor the victory on a rainy night at Sams with temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s.
Tuesday saw a different result than the Region IV-5A final played between the Lobos and Raiders last April 12 at BlossomAthleticCenterin San Antonio. In that game, Lopez scored three goals within a six-minute span just before halftime and held on for a 3-2 victory over the Raiders, advancing the Lobos to state for the third time in school history.
“It was a tough game as it always is against them,” Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said. “Rivera is a very good team. We knew we would have to score more goals (to beat them). You can go out to a 2-0 lead against them and not expect them to come back.”