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Heat wins for a split: Infante’s goal carries Laredo past El Paso

05/13/2007

The Laredo Heat left nothing to chance and although they didn’t showcase their best game Saturday night they did just enough to beat the El Paso Patriots 1-0 at the Student Activity Complex in front of 726 fans.The Heat (2-1, 6 points) was able to avenge their Friday night loss thanks to Dionisio “Nicho” Infante’s second goal in as many days.

The lone first half goal held up for the remainder of the game as the Patriots’ sluggish offense only managed four shots on goal.

The final two shots came in extra time and were the clearest chances for the Patriots (2-2, 6 points), both were bottled up by Heat goalie Ryan Cooper.

With both teams creating minimal scoring opportunities for the majority of the game the Laredo Heat relied on a free kick to get the offensive wheels in motion.

With the ground game going no where in the early going Juan De Dios Ibarra sent a 31-yard free kick towards the area, Laredo’s Mark Vega redirected the pass with a header towards the middle which found an unmarked Infante who headed the ball over goalie Jorge Muniz for his second goal in as many nights in the 37th minute.

Both teams struggled to deliver any crisp passes for the entirety of the game as both clubs took a more careful approach to this encounter, at least for the first period.

Although the hard tackles were limited the teams finished with a combined seven caution cards, including a red for El Paso.

The Patriots found themselves a man short in the 71st minute when Santiago Pinedo tackled Hector “La Gota” Vallejo earning himself his second yellow card and an automatic red card.

Ibarra, Vallejo, Raul Quinones, Daniel Galvan and Infante got yellows for Laredo.

Heat coach Israel Collazo is still experimenting with his lineup switching players around in an effort to find the right mix.

Infante who began last night’s game as a forward was returned to his natural position of defender.

The first scoring opportunity came from El Paso in the ninth minute when a cross pass curved towards Cooper goal and bounced off the crossbar the game took a slower pace after that initial play.

The Heat hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to New Orleans for a Friday night game.

Laredo is on the road for the next three games.

©Laredo Morning Times 2007