Tied at 1 with just under 17 minutes left in the contest, the Brownwood Lions scored twice in 15 seconds en route to a 3-1 soccer victory over District 5-4A rival Little River Academy Friday night at Gordon Wood Stadium.
“Overall when you just look at the game as a whole as far as how we moved the ball, how we defended the ball, we played well,” said Lions head coach Michael Westerman, whose team snapped a four-game district skid. “At times it got a bit frustrating, especially moving the ball in the attacking third. We were finding it difficult and we were rushing the ball at times, just anxious to score goals. But what we did do well was the times we were composed we moved the ball well, we communicated, we were finding the open gaps. We were also able to defend the lead when we had the lead which we’ve struggled with in previous games. Again we faced some adversity and were able to find our way through it and that’s always an excellent thing.”
Junior Martinez snapped the tie from 35 yards out with 16:47 to go, then at the 16:32 mark it was Raven Prado’s turn to light up the scoreboard. The Lions tallied their first goal 8:17 into the second half, thanks to Aidan Pena, but just 1:41 later Academy drew even.
“We faced a lot of adversity the last couple of games with getting an early lead and struggling to maintain that lead,” Westerman said. “After we went up 1-0 and conceded a goal right after, it was a character check for us, and how would we deal with this adversity. Back-to-back goals was crucial and the response I expect, and it just shows our heads are still up, we’re still in the game, and we’re going to attack the goal.”
The Lions completed the first half of league action with a 2-4 mark, on the outside looking in at the postseason currently, and a 4-7-1 overall record. Brownwood hosts Lampasas, the only other 5-4A team it has defeated, at 7 p.m. Tuesday to start the second half of league action.
“We let a couple of games go that we had in hand and we’ve been shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit,” Westerman said. “Overall, these games we play well but the games come down to a kick or two and whether it’s in your favor or not. That’s how the game falls, but we’ve been performing well this first round. We’re not in the position we want to be right now, so Tuesday against Lampasas, the first game starting the second round is going to be massive for us.”
