Pablo Martinez and the Lehman boys soccer team lost 2-1 to Bastrop last week in a key District 49-4A contest. (Photo by Eric Guerrero)
by MARK CAUL
A physical season has certainly begun to take its toll on the Lehman boys soccer team.
They entered a big road match-up with Bastrop, clinging to a one-game lead over the Bears with three starters out with injuries.
Unfortunately, when the dust settled, the Lobos’ one-game lead had vanished by virtue of Bastrop’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Memorial Stadium.
After both teams had fought to a scoreless tie at halftime, the Lobos got on the board first as senior captain Oscar Martinez dribbled downfield and was fouled on a breakaway, which resulted in a penalty kick only six minutes into the second half.
Fabian Mantilla found the net on the penalty kick on the next play to give Lehman a 1-0 advantage.
Six minutes later, the Bears got the equalizer on a 30-yard goal to tie the score at 1-1.
As the game wound down, the combatants became more physical and Bastrop finally was able to break through with a header that skipped past Lehman’s back-up goalkeeper with only 1:17 left to push the Bears ahead to stay.
Although the Lobos had a couple of runs in the last minute of play, they weren’t able to find the net again and dropped into a second-place tie with Bastrop (6-2-1).
Lehman hosts Lockhart on Wednesday and will travel to Giddings on March 8.
