by MARK CAUL
Oscar Prado (left) and Juan Gordillo helped led the Lehman boys soccer team to its first two district victories last week. (Photo by J.P. Edds)
For the first time in his coaching career, Jay Sansom took a team into its fifth district matchup without a win.
But the Lehman boys soccer team collected a pair of road victories last week in District 51-4A action with wins over Wimberley and Canyon Lake to get back into the hunt for a playoff berth.
The fifth-place Lobos, who still remain a game out of a postseason spot, had very little trouble with the Canyon Lake Hawks, scoring four of their goals during a 15-minute span midway through the first half, including two from senior Elias Diegas.
One of the goals was a header that found the back of the net for a Lehman goal that got the Lobos off to a blazing start.
“Our guys have been adjusting to a lot of the things we’re trying to do this year but now we’re still starting to get some of our pieces back,” Sansom said. “Elias has done a great job of tracking the ball down and really has played well this season.”
Junior Oscar Martinez joined the scoring barrage eight minutes into the contest with a shot that barely squeezed inside the left corner of the net to spark Lehman to a 2-0 lead.
Minutes later, Diegas beat a Hawks defender and scooted free, firing a shot which skidded past the Canyon Lake goalkeeper for the Lobos second goal of the game.
Sophomore Alfonso Luna also contributed a goal for the Lobos on a pass from freshman Fernando Mercado.
“We had an opportunity to get our offense clicking against a solid team which gave us some confidence early in the game,” Sansom said. “We know that we have to win as many games as we can from here on out, so whenever we have an opportunity to score we want to take advantage of it.”
The Lobo offense also got uncorked early at Wimberley a few nights earlier in a 6-2 win over the Texans.
Both wins were supposed to be home games that had to be reshuffled to road games because of the unplayable conditions at the Lobo soccer field which leaves Sansom a bit perplexed.
“We’ve been trying to get our home field redone for a while now and I’m very disappointed to nothing has been done to accommodate our kids,” Sansom said. “It makes it difficult for the players, the parents and us as coaches to not know where or when you’re going to be playing. Hopefully, next year the new turf will be installed and it won’t be an issue any more.”
Both the Lehman boys and girls soccer teams will play the rest of their home games this season at Shelton Stadium.
Lehman vaulted itself back into a tie with Hays for fifth place after Seguin beat the Rebels 2-1 on Friday night. Hays and Lehman are set to square off again on Feb. 23 at Shelton Stadium.
Canyon currently holds the fourth spot in the district race behind unbeaten Dripping Springs, San Marcos and Seguin.
“We’re certainly disappointed at where we are but we know the season’s not over and we still have a chance to get back in this thing,” Sansom said. “Some of our players are out of their comfort zones but it’s important for us to keep plugging holes and try to make a run in the second half of the season. We just have to take it game by game and see what happens.”
