Lopez defeats Porter in OT

Lopez and Porter continued their "Battle of Southmost" rivalry under a little different set of circumstances on Friday night at Porter.

It was unusual in that both teams came into their match following defeats Tuesday, but that didn’t prevent Lopez from rallying to secure a 3-2 victory in overtime over the Cowboys. Lopez scored off a corner kick with 43 seconds left in regulation to tie the match at 2 and then tallied the winning goal during the first minute of the second half of overtime.

Both teams already have clinched playoff spots, and Lopez (12-1 district, 36 points) already had wrapped up its second straight outright District 32-5A championship last week. Lopez was edged by Hanna 2-1 on Tuesday, and third-place Porter (9-4, 26 points) lost to Rivera 4-2 the same night.

On Friday, Porter took a 1-0 lead during the fifth minute, and it became an uphill battle pretty much the entire way for the Lobos, who defeated Porter 5-0 when the two teams met in the first half of district Feb. 12 at Lopez.

"It’s always going to be a tough game when you play Porter," Lopez coach Amadeo Escandon said. "We just told our kids to relax and not get any cards, not to get any injuries and to just play a simple game — touch the ball and pass. We were not under any pressure. We just wanted to play a simple game, and that’s it."

The Lobos took advantage of the situation by letting a number of reserves get some playing time. Moises Gonzalez and Jorge Cantu, two of the Lobos’ main offensive threats, spent the night playing defense so other players could have a chance to gain experience on the offensive end.

"Those guys (reserves) have been faithful to us, so we wanted to make sure we gave them some playing time," Escandon said.

Porter was looking good early as Hector Gonzalez scored for the Cowboys during the fifth minute for a 1-0 advantage. Noe Longoria evened it up with a goal from 15 yards for Lopez during the 18th minute.

During the 60th minute, Porter gained the advantage again when Alan Cortinas tallied from close range while situated near the right post for a 2-1 Cowboys lead. It stayed that way until the final minute of regulation when a corner kick from the left side for the Lobos was kicked in by Joe de Alba for the equalizer that sent the match to overtime tied at 2. There were only 43 seconds showing when the Lobos scored.

"There was no pressure on us, really," Porter coach Jose Espitia said. "I told our players that the worst thing that could happen to us had already happened (when we lost to Lopez 5-0 in the first round). Our players just went out and played hard and had fun. They came up just 40 seconds short (of winning), which was a shame.

"You can never underestimate Lopez," he added. "Even when there’s five seconds left, they can still score because they have a dangerous team. The best thing for us is that there is still tomorrow and the playoffs are ahead. We’ve just got to correct some things and make sure that we fix them before the playoffs are here."

The final night of 32-5A action is Monday when Lopez plays host to Weslaco High and Porter visits Los Fresnos. The biggest game of the night will find Hanna at Pace as the Golden Eagles (7-6, 22 points) and Vikings (7-6, 21 points) battle for the district’s final boys playoff berth behind Lopez, Rivera (9-4, 28 points) and Porter.

In the nightcap of Friday’s boys-girls doubleheader at Porter, the Lopez Lady Lobos (7-6, 20 points) clinched a playoff spot as the fourth-place team from 32-5A by defeating Porter 3-0 on a pair of goals by Crystal Chavez and another tally by Beatriz Castillo. The Lady Lobos led 2-0 at halftime.

Coupled with San Benito’s 2-0 loss to Pace and Hanna’s 2-0 setback against 32-5A champion Los Fresnos, the Lopez girls secured their berth in the postseason.

"Our girls deserve it because they’ve worked hard, and here we are," Lopez girls coach Alex Macias said. "We knew it was going to be tough because Porter wants to finish strong, too. We’ve got the numbers (points) up there (for fourth place)."

The Lady Lobos finish the regular season at home against Weslaco High on Monday. The same night, Porter ends its season at Los Fresnos.

The Class 5A bi-district playoffs are scheduled to start March 22.

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.