By Kyle Lehnick
Round two of the 2016 Hays versus Lehman girls soccer series proved to be a dandy.
The Lady Lobos, trailing 1-0 at halftime, stormed back to defeat Hays 2-1, as they scored the game-winning goal with two minutes remaining.
Both teams controlled the ball equally throughout the match, but Lehman made the most of their opportunities close to the net and pulled out the victory.
The Hays goal came with 25 minutes remaining in the first half.
Hays High’s Mariah Gonzales dropped a shot from the left corner of the box into the right side of the net.
Senior Alexis Sanchez scored the equalizer on a wild goal inside the box with 28 minutes remaining in the second.
Coach Nauri Garcia said Sanchez played a “phenomenal” game in the win.
“We dropped her (Sanchez) down to center midfielder and I knew if I put her in that spot she was going to make every single run (to the goal) and she did, that’s how she scored the first goal,” Garcia said.
The game winning goal was equally, if not, more exciting.
Senior Pamela Lasprilla forced the ball toward the goal, only to be denied by the Hays defense.
But the ball bounced off of a defender’s shin and Kyla Johnson served the deflection into the back of the net.
“The second goal, the game-winning goal, was just one of those plays… Pamela Lasprilla, she worked herself.. very hard in the box to get a goal,” Garcia said. “She worked it past the goalkeeper and she doesn’t get the goal but Kyla Johnson comes in and puts it into the goal for her, it was an exciting moment.”
The emotion after the victory was visible as the Lady Lobos lined up to thank their parents, fellow students and fans before taking a group-photo underneath the scoreboard.
Garcia said the season has been “very up and down,” and that the Lobos play in a district where “every little mistake counts.” He said claiming a win in the team’s first home game in two weeks is “big.”
“Not just big, winning this game against our across the highway rival, but huge for our seniors who’ve never beaten Hays,” Garcia said. “It puts a belief back in our ladies, which is what they need. The younger girls who saw this are like, hey, we can do this.”
Garcia lauded Hays as they “played their hearts out.”
“That game was filled with passion and every single one of them put their blood, sweat and tears out there,” Garcia said. “We came out and got banged up, but got back up. Every girl deserves the game ball. They worked very hard and at this moment in the season, it’s a great feeling.”
The Lady Lobos next match is Saturday at Bowie at 10:45 a.m. Lehman travels to play at Del Valle on Feb. 23.
