By Moses Leos III
A formation change with roughly ten minutes left in Tuesday’s game against the Hays Rebels proved to be the right move at the right time for the Lehman Lobos.
The tactical shift to a 3-4-3 formation allowed Lehman’s David Torres to score the game’s lone goal as Lehman defeated rival Hays 1-0.
“It feels great (to win),” Torres said. “They’re our rivals. It feels good.”
With the win, Lehman moves into a three-way tie for fifth place in the 14-6A standings with less than a month left in the season.
For Lehman head coach Brad Baker, the win was “big for us” as it provided the Lobos with their fourth win of the season.
“Right now, our soccer program with four wins is one of the more successful programs on our campus,” Baker said. “That’s huge for these kids to not be on top of the district, but know they are one of the more successful programs.”
It was Lehman that held momentum in the early going of Tuesday’s game. The Lobos set the pace, as they pushed forward and maintained possession for a majority of the half.
Baker said the Lobos used blustery conditions to their advantage. With the wind at their backs, the Lobos worked to play balls down the field. Sorting through team issues, Baker said, allowed the Lobos to connect offensively.
Their persistence led to several chances on goal, but Lehman was unable to capitalize.
“We had a couple of good oppourtunies, but we couldn’t connect,” Baker said. “That’s been the story this year.”
On the opposite end, Hays withstood each and every attack Lehman mustered in the first half. Both teams entered halftime scoreless.
Both offenses picked up the pace of play and the intensity in the second half.
Hays utilized the wind to attack the Lehman defense downfield, which allowed the Rebels to keep possesion at times in the Lehman zone.
To counter, Baker changed tactics as he stressed to his team the need to play the ball on the ground.
The changes led to both teams having opportunities to tally a goal. Hays’ best chance came at the 32 minute mark of the second half when a shot careened off of the right post and narrowly missed entering the net.
Roughly ten minutes later, the Lobo offense had two chances to score, but were thwarted by Hays goalkeeper Abel Garcia.
“I saw our guys fighting for every ball, fighting hard,” Torres said.
But the Lobos then began to dial up the pressure once again. Torres said the increase in pressure was due to the team playing with two forwards on top of the formation.
With time winding down, Baker then opted to add a third forward to spur the offense. His gamble paid off with seven minutes left in the game, as a cross from Lehman’s Daniel Palacious was headed into the back of the net by Torres.
“I saw a cross and I saw it curve, and that the ball was going to go over the other player’s head,” Torres said. “I hit the ball and it went in. It’s a great feeling.”
Baker lauded the play of Torres, who he said is the team’s leading scorer.
“He’s been in the most dangerous positions and he’s been putting away the most goals, mostly with his head and not his feet,” Baker said.
Lehman hosts Lake Travis at home Saturday with kickoff at 10:45 a.m. The Lobos close their home schedule against Anderson on March 8.
Hays hosts Austin High at home on March 1.