Heat Southern Champs
TIMES STAFF REPORTS
07/30/2006
GREENSBORO, N.C. The
Laredo Heat is champion of the Southern Conference in the Premier
Development League for 2006.The Gateway City crew scored a goal in the
90th minute on Saturday night for a 2-1 win over the Bradenton (Fla.)
Academics at MacPherson Stadium.
Laredo now hosts the PDL semifinals on Saturday night at the SAC off
Highway 359. Laredo plays the Eastern Conference champion.
Westchester, N.Y. is one of the possible foes. The New Yorkers
defeated Cape Cod, Mass. on Saturday.
Bradenton, which edged local favorite the Carolina Dynamo 1-0 in
overtime on Friday to advance to play Laredo, scored first on the Heat
at the 1:39 mark.
John Bello scored for Florida with an assist from Harris
Consthandevine.
Just two minutes later, Jesus Sanchez, the former TAMIU star from
Monterrey, Mex., tied it at 1-1. Juan de Dios Ibarra got the assist
for coach Israel Collazos team.
It was toe-to-toe the rest of the way until the final second when
Nicho Infante kicked in a goal from 25 yards for the victory.
"It was an outstanding goal by Infante, Heat general manager J.J. Vela
said. "People here were saying it was one of the prettiest goals they
had ever seen.
Ryan Shaugnessy was in goal for the Heat.
Other outstanding play for Laredo was turned in by midfielders Steve
Su and Daniel Galvan.
"Galvan controlled the middle, Vela said.
Laredo enters the championship semifinals with a glossy 16-2 record.
The other semifinal matchup will probably be a California team,
champions from the Western Conference, against the Central champion
Des Moines Menace, which is the overall defending champ.
The Heat, who edged the Augusta (Ga.) Fireball on Friday 3-2, was on
the charter bus back to Laredo on Saturday night. The team arrives in
Laredo late tonight or early Monday.
"Its a 1,500-mile trip, sighed Vela.
©Laredo Morning Times 2006
