Bitter Defeat

SAN ANTONIO - The Lopez Lobos' soccer season slipped away in a 1-0 shootout loss to San Antonio Reagan Friday afternoon in the Region IV-5A Tournament semifinals at Blossom Athletic Center.

The Lobos and Rattlers battled to a scoreless tie through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime before the match went to a shootout.

Once in the shootout, Lopez goalkeeper Felix Medellin blocked the shot of Reagan's first shooter, Andres Pena, but after that, the Rattlers' next three shooters - Xavier Torres, Travis Smith and Antonio Reyes - each hesitated just long enough to lure Medellin out of the goal before sending well-placed shots into the net.

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish," Smith said.

Rattler sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Snider blocked the shots of the second and third Lopez shooters, Kendor Vasquez and Isi-dro Ramos, after the Lobos' first shot by Marco Guevara sailed high.

Reagan won the shootout 3-0 and it officially was recorded as a 1-0 victory.

Lobos coach Amadeo Escandon said his team just didn't play up to par.

"We picked the wrong time to play our worst game of the season," he said. "But you have to give a lot of credit to Reagan. They were covering our open spaces and they were pressuring us. It was one of those games where nothing goes your way."

Despite the strong vocal support of its large group of fans who traveled to San Antonio hoping to see the Lobos return to state, District 32-5A third-place Lopez ended its season with a 20-6-4 record. District 26-5A third-place Reagan, 16-7-3, advanced to face either District 30-5A runner-up La Joya or 26-5A runner-up San Antonio Churchill in today's 3 p.m. 5A regional final at Blossom.

La Joya and Churchill played late Friday night.

Earlier in the day at Blossom, in the girls Region IV-5A Tournament semifinals, Edinburg North lost to San Antonio MacArthur 5-0 and Reagan edged Harlingen South 2-1 on a late penalty kick. MacArthur faces Reagan in the girls final at 1 p.m. today.

The Lobos-Rattlers match didn't feature many offensive opportunities for either team. Lopez had a header go off the crossbar in the 23rd minute and the Lobos' Jorge Cruz had a shot carry just wide left in a one-on-one situation against Snider in the 29th minute.

In the 62nd minute, a long shot by Reagan skipped off the crossbar.

At the end of overtime, the scoreboard read three shots on goal and three saves for each team. There were no shots on goal for either team in OT.

"It's been amazing because our guys have fought hard all year to get to this point," Reagan coach Gilbert Villarreal said. "Lopez is a great team, and we're just happy to be moving on. My guys just came up big, especially my goalie, in the shootout.

"He (Snider) is just a sophomore, and he's had an up and down year," Villarreal added. "For him to do what he did in the shootout, I'm really excited for him."

The Rattler coach had mixed feelings about seeing the match go all the way to a shootout.

"It's good and bad, you know," Villarreal said. "Our main focus was to try to keep Lopez from scoring first. We did that, so we ac-complished a huge goal in that respect. Sometimes, the goals just don't drop. We hit the crossbar once and so did they.

"I'd rather go to a shootout than be going home," he added.

Reagan advanced to the regional tournament this season for the first time since 2004. The Rattlers beat Austin Westlake (2-0), San Antonio Clark (7-3) and Corpus Christi King (2-0) in the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Lopez was making its first appearance at the San Antonio 5A tournament. When the Lobos won the Class 4A state tournament in 2004, they didn't have to go through a regional tournament to get to state.

The Lobos advanced to San Antonio with come-from-behind wins over Harlingen High (3-2), McAllen High (3-1) and Laredo LBJ (4-3 in OT) in the first three rounds of the playoffs.