Hays soccer coach Jason Burnett only needed one word to describe his team’s 3-1 loss Tuesday night to Lake Travis.
“Fortitude,” Burnett said.
The Rebels needed fortitude – and then some – to stave off the Cavaliers offense, which attempted 26 shots in the match.
Hays was short one player when Antonio Rios was ejected via red card. When the ball dribbled past him, and only the goalkeeper stood in the way of a likely goal, Rios made a last-ditch effort to stab at the ball. He tripped the Lake Travis player instead.
Rios’ absence meant Hays was shorthanded for 65 of 80 minutes – more than three-fourths of the entire match.
“Playing down 10 men for 70 minutes,” Burnett said. “That’s not a game. You’re fighting people off. We just fought off somebody for 70 minutes.”
Lake Travis was already dominating time of possession and shot opportunities before Rios was ejected. Playing a short-handed squad further exacerbated their advantage.
“The whole game changed at that 15-minute mark,” Burnett said. Everything we had planned – everything. We shook up the formation and they were lost. I guess we need a way to adjust to something like that. We’ll take this as a learning experience.”
Still, Hays managed to claw through the first half with a 0-0 tie. The Rebels held firm early in the second half, hoping to catch Lake Travis slipping.
Finding his way in the penalty box, Rocky Perez was the beneficiary of a timely deflection. The Cavaliers tried to clear the ball out of the zone, but it found its way to Perez, who fired the ball into the right corner of the net for the first goal of the game.
The Rebels lead was short-lived. Ten minutes later, Lake Travis converted the equalizer with 24 minutes left in the second half.
As the game wore on, and the disadvantage of playing with 10 players materialized, Hays was left more susceptible on defense than usual.
With nine minutes left in the second half, Lake Travis scored the go-ahead goal off a deflection.
“I don’t know how the second goal went in,” Burnett said. “I have to watch that one on film.”
The Cavaliers added a third goal for good measure in the 75th minute when goalkeeper Evan Barker couldn’t handle the ball and it dribbled to a wide-open Lake Travis player.
Burnett attributed Lake Travis’ goals to the gradual wear-and-tear placed on his short-handed squad.
“Fatigue,” Burnett said. “That’s all it was. Fatigue and personnel in places that personnel hasn’t played before.”
Next time around, Burnett said his team will be ready for Lake Travis, which begins district play with a 1-0 record. That opportunity for Hays will come Feb. 17 on the road.
“Those first 15 minutes, we were fine,” Burnett said. “When we get things together, I’m not worried about Lake Travis next time we see them.”
In the meantime, the Rebels will still be searching for its first district victory of the season when they travel to Westlake Friday night.
