PDL Game Report
Thursday, July 10, 2014
LAREDO, Texas – With their postseason hopes hanging before them, the Laredo Heat claimed a 3-2 victory against the Mississippi Brilla at the Texas A&M International Soccer Complex on Thursday night. Laredo's Yair Hernandez bookended the scoresheet with a brace in the 3-2 victory, as goals in the 44th and 73rd minutes moved the Heat within two points of the Midland-Odessa Sockers with two games remaining in the regular season.
After dropping behind in the 35th minute to Mississippi (3-6-3, 12 points), Hernandez produced perfection off his left boot nine minutes later for the equalizer. After settling a wild rebound just two yards outside the penalty area and right of center, Hernandez cut one touch toward goal and bent a finish over the sprawling hands of Brilla goalkeeper Addison Watson. Irving Villanueva entered as a substitute in the 63rd minute before a stretch of three Heat corner kicks, and broke the tie with a rocket in the 68th minute.
Hernandez completed his brace five minutes later with a right-footed rocket from the right edge of the penalty area. Hernandez has featured in every outfield position for the Heat (5-4-3, 18 points) through different points of the season, but the most impressive aspect of his performance on Thursday was that he found the net despite manning a backline position.
The Brilla opened the scoring just after the half-hour mark when Stephen Robertson streaked into the Heat’s penalty box between the center backs. He took one deft touch before slotting his shot under Heat goalkeeper Jorge Ortega. The Brilla’s final goal came in the second of four minutes of stoppage time when Leonard Smith III struck from 15 yards out, just right of the penalty spot, but the Heat were able to hold on for a vital three points.
With the victory, the Heat maintain their outside-looking-in pace in the Mid South Division. With only the top two Mid-South teams qualifying for the Southern Conference Championship, the Heat sit just two points behind the Midland-Odessa Sockers and 13 behind the division champion Austin Aztex. The Aztex host the Sockers on Friday in a pivotal match that will affect the final standings. If the Heat win their final two matches – against the Brilla on Saturday and at the Houston Dutch Lions next week – they have a chance to finish with 24 points on the season. The Sockers would finish with 26 points if they win out, while a win and a draw could knot Laredo and Midland-Odessa at 24 points.
Should the teams finish level on point, the PDL’s tiebreakers follow head-to-head records between the tied teams, followed by amount of wins and finally goal differential. If the Heat and Sockers tie, Laredo would advance via a 1-0-1 record against Midland-Odessa.
The Heat have never failed to qualify for a postseason in nearly a decade, and will continue their push toward the 2014 tournament with their home finale against the Brilla on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT. The match will be live streamed at www.YouTube.com/LaredoHeatSC.
Each home game will see the Heat offer four fans a chance at winning $500. If the randomly selected fans can bury an undefended penalty kick at halftime, they will win $400 for themselves and $100 to the evening’s selected benefactor.