Tigres edge Heat in overtime
By RACQUEL TORRES
LAREDO MORNING TIMES
The visiting Monterrey Tigres special reserve team beat the Laredo Heat 2-1 in front of 1,100 fans at the Student Activity Center Saturday night in a soccer exhibition.
The game was tied at one after regulation and the Tigres beat the Heat on penalty kicks. The Tigres scored on four of their five tries while Laredo managed to score on only three kicks.
With the Tigres leading by a penalty kick the Heat sent Raul Quinones to try and score on Laredo's last try. Quinones had the goalie beat top shelf but the ball ricocheted off the cross bar giving the Tigres the victory.
The Heat is back in action next Saturday for its PDL home finale against the Austin Lightning, who is second in the division behind the El Paso Patriots. The Heat is third.
Laredo currently trails the Lightning by two points. With the playoffs looming Laredo needs to beat Austin next weekend to have a shot at the post season.
Laredo's coach Israel Collazo said, "I am very proud of this team. The guys worked very hard throughout the week and I'm very content with their efforts. I have a lot of respect for the Tigres. They are very well respected in Mexico and there are national champions.
"Now I'm looking towards our game against Austin. I learned a lot from the game today."
Collazo also urged for fan support.
"I urge the fans to come out next week and support us. Next week is a crucial game for us and hopefully we can give everyone that comes out a victory."
The Heat's goalkeeper Ryan Shaunnessy was tested early and often in the first half of the friendly match. Shaunnessy came up with two diving deflections to keep the game scoreless.
The Heat couldn't get much going in the first half and at 42:10 just before the half the Tigres broke the scoreless tie and took a 1-0 lead with a goal.
Abraham Garcia was running hard down the field towards Shaunnessy. Shaunnessy came out of the net anticipating Garcia's shot and Shaunnessy dove down to try and block the kick.
Garcia faked the shot and sailed the ball into the undefended left side of the net giving the Tigres the lead.
After the Tigres' goal the Heat came right back down the field and almost scored.
The Heat was attacking the Tigres' net and Daniel Hermosillo got a shot off that slowly rolled past Monterrey's goalie. But the ball rolled so slowly into the net the Tigres' goalie Aron Fernandez who was on the ground, was able to work his way back to the ball and stop it before it crossed the goal line.
The Heat's Nelson Mata tied the game at one apiece at 80th minute of the contest. Mata was driving towards the net and the goalie came out to play the ball. Mata cut behind the goalie and scored on the empty net to send the Heat fans roaring.
The Heat players that kicked the penalty shots were Steve Su, Nelson Mata, Mark Vega and Jake Downs. Mata, Vega and Downs made their penalty kicks.
The Saturday 22-player Heat roster:
Brittain Cole, Wilson Bueso, Micah Chaffee, Ernesto Contreras, Jake Downs, Ryan Harrison, Daniel Hermosillo, Juan de Dios Ibarra, Jerrod Idle, Dionisio Infante, Jose Macias.
Also, Nelson Mata, Ilmer Pinedo, Raul Quinones, Miguel Robles, Jose Rovelo, Jesus Sanchez, Javier Santana, Ryan Shaugnessy, Steve Su, Hector Villejo and Mark Vega.
Bueso is from Honduras. The Mexican players are Contreras, Hermosillo, Ibarra, Infante, Mata, Robles, Sanchez and Vallejo.
The game also featured two exhibition soccer games by local youth teams at halftime.
