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Heat vs Carolina Tonight

Two contrasting styles of action unfolded Friday night as the Premier Development League Southern Conference playoff games were played out at the Student Activity Complex.

The first match of the semifinals needed 81 minutes before Carolina asserted itself against El Paso. Quite a contrast to the night cap in which the Laredo Heat laid claim to the game in the opening ten minutes of the contest against the Central Florida Kraze.

After all was said and done and the sphere rolled no longer the Carolina Dynamo edged the El Paso Patriots 1-0 and the Laredo Heat routed the Central Florida Kraze 4-0 to set up tonight´s championship match.

Both divisional winners begin play at 8:05 p.m. with the Southern champion advancing to next weekends PDL semifinals.

With the early start the Dynamo and Patriots were greeted by the strong Laredo Heat that is accustomed in South Texas. With no sporadic showers that have been prevalent in Laredo recently materializing, the Dynamo held on to the slim lead.

The opening half of the Dynamo and Patriots leaned in favor of the Patriots whose forward Omar Mora was running roughshod across the field.

Ï think during some minutes their payers were so much smarter, although we won the time of possession their counters were successful," Brown said.

After a second half adjustment by coach Joe Brown the Dynamo settled in and took control of the contest.

They finally struck in the 81 minute when Zach Loyd´s cross found a diving Richard Jata for the games lone goal.

Patriots goalie Jorge Muniz could do nothing more but watch Jata´s header, a second half sub, bounce off the right bar and into the back of the net.

I´m just happy we got to the final, both teams are pretty difficult," Brown said after his game.

"Fortunately we have the opportunity to watch the match and take a good look at them both," Brown said. Adding the extra hours of rest his club gets for being the first on the pitch.

In an effort to provide as much firepower to the line-up as possible Heat coach Israel Collazo inserted forward Felix Garcia to the mid-field. Garcia covered the left side while Hector "Gota" Vallejo was placed on the right side of the mid-field. The two provided speed and offensive thrust down the lines and helped set up Isaac Morales and Dionisio "Nicho"Infante at the forward positions.

A move that paid dividend in the opening minutes as a young Kraze defense made several crucial errors.

Morales was the offensive player of the match, collecting two goals in the opening 26 minutes.

Not known for his scoring touch, Morales was the benefactor of two Kraze defensive miscues. His first two goal game provided a treat to his wife, which flew in this week from Mexico, D.F. to take in her first match.

Defensive captain Daniel Galvan helped out his team by knocking in a goal on another defensive mistake in the seventh minute.

Juan de Dios Ibarra scored the lone goal of the second half when he knocked in a Hector Vallejo rebound, second before he was subbed in the 60 minute.

Central Florida coach Joe Avallone had pointed out that his main concern was the lack of playoff experience his team had.

That inexperienced was prevalent in their defensive unit and became their undoing in a matter of minutes.

In the opening ten minutes of play the Heat showed they were in no mood to forgive any scoring opportunities.

By the fourth minute a lack of communication between goalie Greg Williams and one of defensive players led to an unfortunate turnover and a score.

Williams who has notched only three games prior to this match sent a pass over to the closest defender who was tightly guarded by a Heat player. In a panic he tried to return the pass to his goalie only to have Dionisio "Nicho" Infante intercept the pass and find an open and unguarded Morales.

The second goal came about after Vallejo sent a cross inside the box that was intercepted by a Kraze defender who clearing attempt landed in the feet of Galvan in the seventh minute.

Morales collected his on a twenty-yard blast that surprised the goal keeper and everyone in the stands.

Morales made a heads up play after his pass deflected off a Kraze defender. Both Kraze defenders were slow to react to the ball, allowing Morales to catch up and let loose the swift blast.

The Dynamo had defeated the Kraze 4-0 in the regular season and now face off against Laredo for the first time in both franchises history.