Soccer: A sometimes cruel game of luck

The Valley's soccer luck ran out with about five minutes to go in the Harlingen South/San Antonio Reagan regional semifinal at Blossom Athletic Center on Friday afternoon.
A scrappy penalty gave Reagan a 2-1 victory over the Lady Hawks. They deserved better than to lose on a referee's whistle.
That was just a foreshadowing of how things would go for two more Valley teams in the boys' semifinals.
If there has been a team that seemed to have destiny on its side it was this season's Brownsville Lopez boys' soccer team.
After all, just making the playoffs from District 32-5A quite an accomplishment.
But once the Lobos hit the playoffs, things just seemed to click. If an opponent made a mistake on defense, the Lobos were able to capitalize. It just seemed that the ball was bouncing the right way for Lopez.
The Lobos had fallen behind in each of their playoff victories, coming back from single-goal deficits to beat Harlingen 3-2, followed by a 3-1 victory over McAllen, and then coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Laredo LBJ 4-3 in overtime.
Yes, the Lobos are a very good team, but there is a certain amount of luck involved in coming back three times, especially in the playoffs.
But that luck ran dry for Lopez against San Antonio Reagan. The two teams were scoreless for 100 minutes before going to a shootout.
Reagan's shooters scored three times, Lopez's none.
Ask almost any soccer coach and they will tell you that once a game goes to a shootout, it's just about a coin flip.
And while a coin flip is a 50-50 proposition. It's still a guess and a guess is nothing more than luck.
La Joya probably thought they had a little bit of luck on their side. After all, the Coyotes reached the regional semifinal by turning back 2006 state champion Brownsville Porter in a shootout.
However, once again, fate wasn't kind to a Valley soccer team.
According to Coyotes coach Ronnie Cabrera, the Coyotes made one mistake and it cost them as they didn't mark San Antonio Churchill's Nick Cukjati, who scored from the only game of the match from just outside the penalty area.
"It was a mistake. We didn't mark, we let him shoot I thought we were controlling the game, controlling the game to the point where we could take them to the overtime and all that.
"What can I say, that's soccer. If you make a mistake and they capitalize, that's going to be it," Cabrera told the Monitor after the game.
We shouldn't have been surprised at what happened in the Region IV-5A soccer tournament. It was just a concentrated example.
Earlier in the week, Hidalgo and Valley View played in the Class 4A regional semifinals.
Things looked to be going the Pirates' way as they had a two-goal edge at the half against New Braunfels Canyon, which is coached by former Harlingen South assistant Rob Rush.
But as has been said before: Soccer is a cruel game.
The Greyhounds came back and in game marred by a flurry of red cards to beat Hidalgo 4-3.
Meanwhile on that same Tuesday night, not too far from Blossom Athletic Center, Valley View fell to Vista Ridge 1-0.
It just seems like the Valley's soccer teams couldn't catch a break in the regional semifinals.
This area sent six teams to the regional semifinals this season and five of them lost by one goal. Edinburg North lost to San Antonio MacArthur 5-0, but didn't disgrace themselves against one of the best teams in San Antonio.
"It was a night that the ball didn't go in. We were not lucky tonight," Valley View coach Jesus Ochoa told the Monitor. "We were a better team, but the games are won by score, and they scored."
And while there will be a sour taste in the mouths of most Valley soccer fans for awhile, things are looking up, especially for Harlingen South.
The first time I covered the Lady Hawks in the regional semifinals, Reagan beat them handily 6-1, and South didn't really look like they belonged on the pitch with the Lady Rattlers.
This time, despite going into the game down two starters and then losing midfield general Pat Torres inside the first minute, the Lady Hawks were able to stay with Reagan for the entire contest.
It was a tribute to how well Omar Pedroza can coach that he was able to make quick adjustments as well as a tribute to the skill level of his players.

Paul Conatzer covers soccer for the Valley Morning Star. You can reach him at paulc@valleystar.com or at 956-430-6286.