Boys Soccer: Bronchos explode late to end losing streak

A couple of technicalities sugarcoated what had become a full-fledged scoring drought for the Odessa High boys soccer team.

Odessa High scored three goals in the first half of its District 3-5A opener but since had only scored one goal on a free kick last week. Then, the Bronchos were given the gift of an own goal by Midland High early in Tuesday’s match.

Midland High recovered to lead Odessa High by one goal going into the final 10 minutes at Ratliff Stadium.

That is what made the closing stages of the game so remarkable as OHS exploded for two goals in the last 9 minutes, 5 seconds and won 3-2 to snap a two-game losing streak.

“I told the guys before the second half to play with intensity for 40 minutes,” OHS coach Noe Cerezo said. “Not five, not 10, not 15, but 40, and that’s what they did. They came out and played with intensity. They listened, they did what they were asked to, and they executed and never let down.”

Odessa High’s comeback from a 2-1 deficit started when the rebound of a long free kick by Carlos Sifuentes bounced into open space and senior midfielder Hugo Corral shot it home from 20 yards to tie the game 2-2 with 9:05 to play.

Then, with just 2:53 left on the clock, OHS sophomore Mateo Vuelvas fought through a crowd on the far post to finish a cross that senior Uli Guillen made after a nifty run down the left wing.

Suddenly, OHS led 3-2 after struggling to find the net for most of the match.

An own goal by Midland High, brought on by a miscommunication between a defender and the Bulldogs goalkeeper, gave Odessa High a 1-0 lead less than three minutes in. They tied it 1-1 in the 19th minute when Austin Inman scored off a Daniel Fishman assist.

Midland High then went ahead 2-1 with 23:08 left to play when Spencer Malaise scored off an assist by Addison Kenney, but Odessa High’s late explosion wiped that deficit off the scoreboard.

“I thought even until the last five or six minutes, we were playing very well, even given the situation at the beginning with the own goal,” Midland High coach Warren Cottle said. “Then we had one brain cramp and then another, and there you go. The beauty of what we’re going to do is get back after it, and the guys will respond. They’ll play.”

While Odessa High (8-5-2 overall, 2-2 district) snapped a two-game district slide, Midland High (5-5-6, 3-1) suffered its first 3-5A setback.

The significance of the situation wasn’t lost on any of the OHS players, who knew their struggles could be magnified with another loss.

“We just had to keep pushing it and pushing it,” Corral said. “Like Coach was saying, we had to do the little things right first. Carlos sent that (free kick) in, and I saw the ball and just went for it. As soon as I scored, we just got pumped up. It’s so hard to catch back up and beat one of the undefeated teams in district, but this was just a team effort pretty much. We gave it everything we had, and we played great and came out with the victory.”

District 3-5A Soccer

BOYS

All District

Team W L T W L

Abilene Cooper 6 6 1 3 0

Midland High 5 5 6 3 1

Permian 6 6 1 2 2

Odessa High 8 5 2 2 2

San Angelo Central 7 6 0 1 2

Midland Lee 7 8 1 1 2

Abilene High 3 9 0 0 3

Monday’s Score

San Angelo Central 5, Abilene High 1

Tuesday’s Scores

Odessa High 3, Midland High 2

Midland Lee 3, Permian 1

Saturday’s Games

San Angelo Central at Permian, noon

Abilene Cooper at Midland High, noon

Midland Lee at Abilene High, noon