BROWNSVILLE — Brownsville Lopez’s Damian Resendez didn’t see a ton of minutes during Tuesday’s District 32-5A contest against Brownsville Porter.
The Lobos midfielder spent less than 15 minutes on the pitch.
Resendez made the most of his limited action, however, netting the go-ahead goal with 16 minutes remaining as the Lobos held off the Cowboys 1-0 during a District 32-5A match Tuesday at Porter Cowboy Field in Brownsville.
“I feel really happy,” Resendez said. “Even though I only played like maybe 10 minutes, I’m happy I was able to make those minutes worth it and help the team come out with the victory.”
Quality shots were hard to come by during the first half, with the Lobos outpacing the Cowboys 1-0 in shots on goal. The lack of opportunities led to a scoreless draw at the break.
The Cowboys turned the aggressor during the second half, flipping the script on a first half in which Brownsville Lopez dominated possession.
The change of pace led to three early shots on goal by the Cowboys during the second half, including one by Porter’s leading scorer Martin Gonzalez, but none found the back of the net.
The Lobos defense held Gonzalez off the board entirely after having score eight goals in his last three appearances.
“Everybody knows the gameplan was going to be to stop Martin,” Brownsville Lopez head coach Amadeo Escandon said. “That is no secret. He’s going to take a few shots, but we had to mostly stop him. We couldn’t let him turn and take that left footed shot. It’s no secret what he can do. I think our defense did their part today.”
With the Cowboys playing more aggressively, the Lobos looked for their counterattack to provide their first goal.
The opportunity came when junior Ramon “Chacho” Zuniga stole the ball from a Porter player, taking it deep into enemy territory before crossing a pass to Resendez for the game-winning score.
“When they mark our guys like Chacho or Diego Guerra, that means somebody else is going to be open,” Escandon added. “We saw the openings in the first half and told our attacking midfielders that somebody had to be there when guys like Chacho or Guerra were taking that shot. Damien did that. He followed it through and it was just a heck of a goal.”
The victory vaults the Lobos (6-1-1) over the Cowboys in the standings, putting Lopez in second place with just one game remaining during the first round of district play.
They’ll take on the Donna North Chiefs (7-0-1) at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a battle for first place at Brownsville Lopez.
“This is the way we wanted it,” Escandon said. “To be on the top you have to run through the best teams. We’re running through No. 1 and No. 2 to close out round 1. That’s good because it is a good test for us. Hopefully Friday we can get another W.”
The Cowboys (5-1-2) close out the first round of district play on the road against Donna High at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Bennie La Prade Stadium in Donna.
