Alfonso Gonzalez (left) and his Lobo soccer teammates saw their season come to a dramatic end as Lehman lost to Elgin in shootout that went nine players deep Friday night in the bi-district round. (Photo by Stephen Cooper)
by MARK CAUL
After surviving a sudden death shootout just to secure a No. 2 seed in the postseason only a few days before - the injury-plagued Lehman Lobos had no idea they would have to engage in another highly-contested battle against Elgin at Lobo Field in the bi-district playoffs Friday night.
Both teams fought tooth and nail for nearly three hours before Elgin scored the game winner on its ninth sudden death shooter and slipped past Lehman.
The Lobos played without one of their senior captains, Oscar Martinez, who was lost for the season after suffering a broken wrist a week before the playoffs began.
The loss marked the third time in history the Lobos have exited the first round in the playoffs by a single point.
Lehman fell 2-1 to Vista Ridge in their first-ever playoff appearance in 2008 and then 1-0 to Austin Travis in 2009.
The Lobos carried a 1-0 advantage into halftime after Martinez was able to find the net in the 25th minute of a first half dominated by Lehman offensively.
Unfortunately, Martinez’s goal stood as the lone goal for the Lobos in the first half.
“In the first half we played well but we weren’t able to finish on a couple of great opportunities,” Lehman head coach Jay Sansom said. “The second half was the same. It was a well-played, well-officiated game. But obviously I think the wrong team won.”
Elgin showed its mettle in the second half and was finally able to get the tying goal with 18 minutes to go in regulation time.
From there, the teams played through a scoreless overtime period and were forced into a shootout.
“The overtimes were about equal,” Sansom said. “Our key guys were not able to find the net. We had a couple of opportunities to secure the game in the overtime period and again in the sudden death. We just couldn’t take advantage.”
Both teams scored twice in the opening five-shot shootout stanza, but it took until Elgin’s ninth overall shooter scored to settle the game by the narrowest of margins.
Elgin advances to meet LBJ in the second round of the playoffs.
An outstanding senior class played in their final games as Lobos - Oscar Garcia, Oscar Martinez, Cory Bergstrom, Jose Rangel, Manny Ramirez, Hector Rodriguez, Edson Reyes, Erick Dieguez, Richard Porche and Al Ruiz.
Lady Lobos fall 6-0
In girls playoff action, the Lady Lobos ran into a locomotive in undefeated Hendrickson, falling 6-0. Hendrickson has only had four goals scored against it all season long and is one of the favorites to qualify for the state tournament.
Despite the loss, the Lady Lobos had a solid run this season, making the playoffs for the second time in the history of the girls soccer program.
