The Mavs came in to the game knowing they were going to have to stop a potent team that had been scoring well.
“Our plan was to play defensively and force the Tigers into mistakes and turn them into counter attacks,” said Coach Christian Rodriguez, “Defensively the plan was sound but we could just not find the right touch to begin our counter attacks.”
The Mavs did break out at times during the match but could not find the back of the net. The Tigers continuously pressed the attack and kept up their aerial assault as the Mavericks found ways to turn them away, but on one shot on goal, a Winn defender impeded the goalie’s path to the ball and opened up an opportunity for the Tigers to take the lead on a small put back. The half ended 0-1.
Winn showed some flashes of brilliance and almost found goals on some great plays but could just not finish with a goal. The Tigers managed to break through the defense once more and extended their lead to 2-0.
The Mavs fought to get on the board to the very end but time ran out on the game and the season for the Mavs. The final score was 0-2.
Good play in the game came from 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 keep the Mavericks in the game.
A.D. Ibarra
-San Antonio, Texas