By Josh Young.
On Friday, the Lehman Lobos hosted the Hays Rebels in this year’s first edition of the fierce competition between the two highly successful boys soccer programs. The match was a battle of the last two District 27-4A Champions and an early season test for both teams physically.
Emotions ran high as players fought through. Hays claimed a 1-0 victory off an early goal in the second half.
The breakthrough for Hays came 10 minutes into the second half when the Rebels went on the attack, firing several shots on goal before Xavier Garcia nailed home a rebound that found the back of the net for a 1-0 Hays lead.
Hays High soccer player Osvaldo Hernandez (right) and Lehman High soccer player Brandon Villa converge on the ball during Friday’s Hays/Lehman rivalry soccer match at Lobo Field. (Photo by Moses Leos III) |
“It all started with a clearance on the defensive end, then Jon Hinnenkamp took it outside, and crossed back to the middle for a shot,” Garcia said. “I just crashed in to try to get a rebound. Coach [Burnett] tells us every day to follow the shots and good things will happen, so that’s what I did.”
As the game continued, the physicality increased as the Rebels defense was able to turn away scoring chances from the Lobos. Lehman mounted the pressure on offense, but could not find the goal they needed to tie the game.
Several fouls by the Rebels led to free kicks from Lehman senior Chris Piedra. The defensive effort by the Rebels culminated in a last minute flurry of free kicks and corner kicks for the Lobos, which were all turned away by Rebel defenders.
After the game, Hays coach Jason Burnett was both pleased and relieved at the effort of his team in such an important early season match.
“This was a huge win for us in this rivalry,” he said. “Our kids played hard in this game, knowing it was going to be tense and emotional, until the end.”
Both the Rebels and Lobos will continue on their district schedule and anticipate the next meeting late in the month on Feb. 25 at Shelton Stadium.
