A.D. Ibarra
-Alamo Stadium
The CC Winn Mavericks behind the tutelage of Christian Rodriguez headed into the State UIL Soccer Playoffs with a bullet as the 2nd seed in District 28-AAAAA on Friday into Alamo Stadium to take on the Jefferson Mustangs.
The contest was hard fought on both sides.
The Mustangs were ready for the potent speed of the Mavericks and were able to keep the Mavs in check. The first half was a task in maintaining composure and controlling first playoff game jitters. The Mavs and Mustangs closed the game in a draw 0-0, as it seemed the plan to control the Maverick attack was working for the Mustangs.
The second half saw much of the same as the first half and the Mavs were stifled offensively while the Mustangs looked like they were building momentum and opening up opportunities to score.
The Mustang opportunities were turned away by the Maverick defenders and especially goalie Armando Villarreal, who kept the Mavs in the game.
The game then became fast and furious as both teams looked for a chance to win. As the time winded down on the half and the coaching staffs of both teams started to make plans for an overtime period, the Mavericks suddenly found an opportunity they were looking for.
With about 3 minutes to go, Erik Tarin advanced the ball down into the Mustang side of the field and found Felipe Flores on the sideline who then found Alexis Esquivel at the top of the box. Alexis, although hobbled and slowed down
all game with an injury, wasted no time in opening up some space and taking the shot on goal that beat a diving Mustang keeper.
The Mustangs fought to create a tie in the remaining time and with seconds left almost did but stout defender Alex Flores turned it away and the final seconds came off the clock. The Mavericks won the match 1- 0.
Good play in the game came from Alex Flores, Erik Cantu, Jose Herrera, Luis Sugaki and Angel Salinas. Felipe Flores, Ricardo Fernandez and Alexis Esquivel, Erik Tarin, Jason Estrada and Ricky Gutierrez contributed good play offensively.
Armando Villarreal came up with some great saves to maintain the clean sheet at goalie.
The Mavericks were then slated to take on Dripping Springs in the next round of the State Playoffs. The full coverage will be in Sunday’s edition of your Eagle Pass News Gram.