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Heat Advances to Conference Finals

By Jason Mack, Laredo Morning Times, 07/13/18, 4:15PM CDT

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The Laredo Heat Soccer Club never trailed during a perfect 10-0-0 run through its first regular season in the National Premier Soccer League. That changed Wednesday putting the No. 1 overall seed in the 98-team league in danger of elimination, but it lasted less than two minutes.

Local product Gabriel Rodriguez scored the tying and winning goals as the Heat rallied for a 3-1 victory over the Fort Worth Vaqueros and advanced to Saturday’s Lone Star Conference Championship game.

“That’s the sign of a good, strong team that can overcome adversity,” Laredo Heat head coach Dana Taylor said. “I thought the guys responded well. They worked hard. I’m happy overall. It was a hard-fought game. The guys did a great job to respond.”

Rodriguez joins the Heat (11-0-0) from Laredo College, recently renamed from Laredo Community College. He entered the postseason with a team-leading seven goals and tacked on two more Wednesday.

The first goal came on a diving header in the 61st minute less than two minutes after the Vaqueros (7-3-2) broke a scoreless tie with their own header. Rodriguez broke the 1-1 tie 10 minutes later, and another local product delivered an insurance goal as TAMIU’s Rafa Montabes scored in the 89th minute to put the game out of reach.

Memo Diaz didn’t score on multiple chances he created from the back line in the first half. However, he assisted on all three goals after rotating to right wing.

“In the first half he was playing right back, so to get off shots like that is really saying something,” Taylor said. “That’s already a pretty good game. The second I switched him, literally his first touch was assisting on our first goal.”

Wednesday’s win continued Laredo’s season-long run of defensive dominance holding opponents to one or no goals in all 12 games. That includes last Saturday’s friendly as the Heat fell 1-0 against the Monterrey Rayados U20 squad while resting several players. In six National Premier Soccer League home games, the Heat have outscored opponents 23-2.

Just like in last Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over the Vaqueros in the regular-season finale, the Heat dominated possession in the first half but failed to break through on any scoring chances. Diaz had four shots in the opening 23 minutes of the game, but the goalkeeper was in position in all three on net.

“We moved the ball well,” Taylor said. “I thought we were unlucky in the first half not to have three or four goals honestly. We had at least three different chances that we didn’t finish that need to be finished.”

Fort Worth struggled to generate any scoring chances despite a couple of corner kicks. Their best chance of the half came in the 42nd minute as Zachary Adler danced around several defenders in the box and got off a shot, but Brandon Barnes was there for the save. The Vaqueros had a big chance seven minutes into the second half getting a free kick at the top of the box, but they sent a shot over the net.

They broke the tie in the 60th minute as a throw in from deep on the left side quickly led to a goal off a header in the box by Declan O’Shea. The goal put Laredo’s perfect season in jeopardy in its playoff opener as it trailed for the first time all season, but the Heat answered back less than two minutes later.

Diaz sent a cross from the right side of the box and Rodriguez made a diving header from just left of the net. Fort Worth’s coach vehemently argued Rodriguez was offsides, and he was escorted from the stadium after receiving a red card.

“That’s the game. It’s an ebb and flow,” Taylor said. “He had a great response. They held it together and worked hard. They stayed after it and persevered. They took care of the game.”

Daniel Espeleta was tackled at the top of the box in the 64th minute for a free kick, but the Heat failed to generate any chances off the opportunity. Diaz fed Rodriguez again to take the lead in the 80th minute. This time Rodriguez took a pass dead center in the box and redirected it past the goalkeeper for the lead.

The Heat capitalized on Fort Worth’s desperation in the 89th minute as the goalie was playing deep out of the net. Diaz sent a pass far up the right side to Montabes and he fired it into the lower left of the net to build a two-goal lead. The Heat controlled possession for most of the four added minutes and prevented any scoring chances.

Laredo advances to host the Dutch Lions FC at 8:15 p.m. Saturday at Dustdevil Field. The Dutch Lions (9-3) broke a 1-1 tie in the second overtime and added another in the 122nd minute before giving one up on a penalty kick two minutes later for a dramatic 3-2 win over the Midland-Odessa Sockers FC (7-3-1). It marked the second straight season a top-two seed lost coming out of the bye in the Lone Star Conference. Laredo avoided a repeat of recent history as both top seeds dropped their openers last year.

The Heat beat the Dutch Lions 2-0 at home in their fifth game of the season. Taylor is hoping to bank off the energy of the crowd again after getting more than 1,000 in attendance for Wednesday’s postseason opener.

“The fans were incredible tonight,” Taylor said. “Over 1,000 people came out, and there was a band. The atmosphere was brilliant for a playoff game. We’ve got the Dutch Lions coming here on Saturday, and we need a lot of support again.”

jmack@lmtonline.com

Twitter: @jmacklmt