by MARK CAUL
Lehman’s Elias Diego makes a sweet move, but the Lobos still lost a 2-1 heartbreaker Friday night against Canyon. (Photo by J.P. Edds)
The scheduling gods have not been very kind to the Lehman boys soccer team this season.
After drawing a much improved San Marcos squad in their opener, the Lobos then had to navigate a brutal three-game stretch in which they faced the top three teams in the league.
After a 5-1 loss to cross town rival Hays, the Lobos were then beaten by state-ranked Dripping Springs 2-1 at home.
In their third straight match-up against one of the district’s top teams, the Lobos were forced to travel to Canyon High because of unsatisfactory field conditions at Lobo Field.
There, Lehman proceeded to drop a narrow 2-1 decision as the Cougars got a late goal from Irving Lopez, saddling the Lobos with their fourth consecutive loss in district play.
The game-changing play came after Lehman’s Erik Diegas had just tied the score at 1-1. Minutes later, Lopez delivered a pass on the run to teammate Steven Sanchez who found the right side of the net for the go-ahead goal for Canyon.
The Lobos failed to cash in on a couple of late runs by Oscar Martinez, Juan Gordillo and Riley Higgins as they fell to 5-5-1 overall and 0-4 in 51-4A.
“We just haven’t been able to get anything going on the offensive end,” Lehman head coach Jay Sansom said. “Being without a district win after four games is definitely unfamiliar territory for us but we still have time to get this thing turned around.”
The Lobos’ schedule gets a little easier in the coming weeks as they will face Canyon Lake, Seguin and Wimberley, three teams that Sansom feels his team can’t afford to stumble to if they want to keep their hopes alive for a fourth consecutive playoff berth.
“The teams we’re expected to beat are the ones that we have to really be mentally focused on,” Sansom said. “We just have to find a way to get into the win column. That means we can’t afford to look past anybody in this district. Because of the start we have had, we have very little margin for error from here on out.”
