Fernando Mercado scored Lehman's first two goals in the Lobos' history-making win over Connally Friday night. (Photo by Judy Cooper)
By JASON GORDON
The Lobo boys soccer team broke down a barrier Friday night that saw its first brick positioned in 2004, the year Lehman High School opened.
The Lobos became the first Lehman team in any sport to win a playoff game, with a dominating 3-0 victory at Pflugerville Connally in the bi-district round.
They move on to the area round, where the Lobos will host Vandegrift High School, beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
“I think this is huge for the school. Lehman should be seen as a strong opponent across the board in all sports,” Lehman boys head soccer coach Jay Sansom said. “The teams we play should be thinking if they don’t play well they are going to get the hell beat out of them. Winning breeds winning, and that’s what not only our team but a lot of teams are starting to do at Lehman.”
Lehman senior Andres Castro agrees with his head coach.
“This win feels amazing and after the game we were ecstatic,” Castro said. “We are happy to know we have achieved one of our biggest goals, but we are not finished. We are still craving to go farther in the playoffs and continue to make a name for ourselves and for Lehman. We are proud to be Lobos and represent the school with pride.”
Fernando Mercado scored both of Lehman’s first half goals. The first came after he took a long pass from Pablo Martinez and then beat the Connally goalkeeper with a kick angled into the right side of the net.
Minutes later, Mercado dribbled his way through four would-be Connally defenders before chipping the ball into the back of the net from close range, and the Lobos led 2-0 at the break.
Five minutes into the second half, Josh Newenham powered a free kick from 40 yards out that Francesco Bonfe headed in for a goal to give Lehman a comfortable 3-0 advantage.
“We knew we had a strong team going into the playoffs,” Sansom said. “Now the road gets tougher. I think we’re capable of even greater things, but the kids are the ones who have to go out there and make it happen.”
The Hays boys soccer won at Manor for the second straight year in the first round of the playoffs, but this time it wasn’t nearly as easy as last season’s 5-1 victory.
The Rebels trailed the Mustangs 2-0 at halftime Friday night before rallying for a 3-2 victory.
“We had a little discussion at halftime about want-to and heart,” Hays head coach Jason Burnett said. “When we came out in the second half, we were a completely different team. It was by far the best soccer we’ve played all year.”
Leaving only three defenders back, Hays went on the attack.
Taylor Herselman got the scoring party started for the Rebs with a corner kick from the right side that didn’t get much more than a foot off the ground before bending past the Manor goalkeeper and into the net.
Omar Rangel passed to Christian Varela, who drove right down the middle for a chip-in goal to tie the score 2-2 midway through the second half.
The same two players combined for the game winner, as Rangel passed to Varela, who hammered a shot in from 20 yards out with 10 minutes left in the game.
Manor only had one realistic scoring chance the entire second half.
“We played with speed, emotion and passion,” Burnett said. “It was crazy-insane to watch our guys perform at that level.”
Hays advances to the area round where the Rebels will play at Vista Ridge on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Vista Ridge knocked the Rebs out of the postseason in the area round last year.
Both local girls teams in the bi-district playoffs Friday night suffered season-ending defeats.
The Lady Rebels lost 3-2 at Connally and the Lady Lobos lost 7-0 at home against Hendrickson.
