BROWNSVILLE — Sharyland High’s Edward Morales crossed a pass into the box midway through the first and Jose Sanchez tapped it in for the go-ahead goal as the Rattlers defeated the Brownsville Porter Cowboys 1-0 during a Region IV-5A quarterfinal Friday at the Brownsville Sports Park Soccer Complex.
The victory pushes the Rattlers into the Region IV-5A tournament for a second straight season. They’ll take on the winner between San Antonio Southwest and Cedar Park on Friday at a time to be determined at the Brownsville Sports Park Soccer Complex.
“To be honest with you, I only saw a glimpse of it,” Sharyland High head coach Jorge Guerra said. “It was going on goal regardless. That is when the goalie has a tough time deciding to go for it or wait for it. It was one of those plays, like I tell the kids, as long as it cross the line we’re good and that one went in. The goalie had already had a couple of good saves, so I am just glad that one went in.”
The Cowboys’ season ends in the third round after advancing to the fifth round a season ago. They finish with 24-3-1 overall record, including a 15-1-2 district record en route to back-to-back 32-5A crowns.
Trailing 1-0 during the second, the Cowboys took advantage of the wind, looking for the game-tying score. The score nearly came during the 56th minute, with Alessandro Lara netting the would-be game-tying goal, but it was negated due to an offsides.
The call marked the second time the Cowboys had a goal taken off the board during the game due to an offsides.
With the lead in hand, Sharyland High played keepaway for the final 10 minutes, dropping back almost every player to keep the Cowboys off the board.
“I didn’t expect anything less than this,” Guerra said. “I knew it was going to go down to the wire. We knew it was going to be a physical game because that is what we’ve seen from Porter. It could have gone either way to be honest with you. I’m just glad we came up with the victory.”
The Cowboys received one last chance at tying the contest with less than a minute remaining, but the Sharyland High defense held tight, clearing the ball out of the danger area and watching the time wind down to zero.
The victory avenges a non-district loss by the Rattlers to the Cowboys, 2-1 during pool play of the BISD soccer tournament.
“We’re going to continue the same,” Guerra said. “We’re going to put our feet back down on the ground starting tomorrow and focus on what is coming next which is practice Monday to start getting ready for Southwest.”
