Less than a year in existence and the Central Texas Lobos now have hardware to place on its mantle.
Earlier this month, the Lobos knocked off Austin Real Cuauhtémoc, who is the two-time defending Texas Premier Soccer League and Texas Cup Champions, in a thrilling 4-3 win in penalty kicks in Harker Heights to claim the Texas Cup.
TPSL president Brendan Keyes called the final “historic” because no TPSL expansion team has ever won the Texas Cup in its inaugural season.
The Lobos took a 1-0 lead shortly before halftime on a goal by Ali Eldrasi.
Cen Tex took a 2-0 lead after Omar Rangel, a Hays High alumnus, tallied a goal early in the second half.
Austin Real, however, countered by scoring on a penalty kick that was awarded after officialsl called a handball on the Lobos.
Austin scored an equalizing goal with seven minutes left in the match, which was enough to force a penalty kick shootout.
The Lobos prevailed by winning the match 4-3 in the shootout. Helping their efforts was goalkeeper Allan Chehadi, who stopped Austin’s first penalty kick.
“We are thrilled to bring home the Texas Cup trophy to Kyle,” Lobos president and General Manager David Walding said.
He added Austin Real Cuauhtémoc is an “accomplished team” with four trophies in the past two years, and had players who have professional experience with the Austin Aztex semi professional team, and players who played in Europe.
“They fought hard and played well,” Walding said. “We never take anything for granted when we play them. However our team philosophy, and the hard work by the Lobos players and Coach Jose Ramos, paid off today.”
The Central Texas Lobos advanced in the tournament after defeating Ft. Hood FC in the group stage.
A 1-0 loss to the Houston Hurricanes pitted the Lobos against league-leading Twin Cities FC in the semifinal where the Lobos prevailed 2-1.
The Lobos were matched against Austin Real Cuauhtémoc in the final, which defeated the Houston Hurricanes 3-2 in the other semifinal match.
