Heat in a pre-Lightning strike on McAllen
By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The Laredo Heat appears ready to take on the Austin Lightning in their Premier Development League season opener this coming Saturday.
They closed out their preseason preparations with an 8-1 thrashing of the amateur McAllen Pumas at the Student Activity Center Saturday night.
The team looked crisp as it made its way through the Pumas defense throughout the contest.
The forward tandem of Hector Vallejo and local Dionisio Infante along with midfielder Juan de Dios Ibarra took advantage of the scoring opportunities as each finished with two goals apiece.
The McAllen team just couldnt keep up with the Heats constant on the ball pressure and was beat constantly by the Heats precise passes.
"Hopefully what we did today is carried into next weeks game. I liked the discipline of being a professional player that the team showed," Heat coach Eleazar "E.J." Jepsen said.
Vallejo, from Monterrey, got Laredo on the board in the eighth minute when he beat out Pumas goalie Juan Carlos Gonzalez and proceeded to knock in the empty netter.
Laredo added to its lead just three minutes later on a 23-yard direct kick strike by Ibarra, another Monterrey product. The Pumas stalled the Heats momentum momentarily by connecting on a 30-yarder on a direct kick by Ricardo Gonzalez to pull to within 2-1.
Vallejo connected again in the 23rd minute and assisted on Infantes first goal in the 28th minute further extending the Heats lead.
The Heat took the 4-1 lead into the break having outshot the Pumas 10 to five. Ryan Shaughnesscy the Heats starting goalkeeper had four saves in the first half.
That was all the action he would face as he was rarely challenged in the second period before being subbed by Paul Tate.
Infante and the Heat came out rolling in the second half, as seconds after the referees whistle Infante found the back of the net once more to further extend his teams definitive lead.
The second half unfolded much like the first with the Heat being the aggressors and the Pumas relying on counters in search of a break in the Heats defense. Laredo starting inserting its substitutes to give them some much needed playing time, in anticipation of next weeks match against the Austin Lightning.
This was the Heats first game at the SAC, so Jepsen can now take into account the subtleties of playing on artificial turf into consideration.
Ibarra collected his second goal on a penalty kick in the 48th minute and locals Jose Macias and Daniel Hermosillo would score once each for the Heat.
Macias scored on a corner putback in the 12th and Hermosillo send a 20-yard strike past Gonzalez to cap the Heats scoring in the 88th minute.
Laredo finished with 15 shots on goal and had six corner opportunities, while the Pumas were held to six shots on goal and one corner attempt.
