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PHARR, Texas - The Potros put an end to a five-game winless streak by surprising the Tigers with a 3-2 victory on Saturday at the Donna soccer fields in the sixth week of the South Texas Premier Soccer Association’s inaugural Summer League to notch their first win of the season.
Mauro Martínez (25’) and Joan Lerma (30’) staked the Potros to a 2-0 lead, and Juan Valdez (65’) added an insurance goal to secure the McAllen-based squad their first victory. Carlos Cortéz (52’) and Erick Martínez (70’) scored for the Tigers.
The win put the Potros (1-1-3, 4 points) back into the hunt for one of the four playoff spots available with five games remaining in the 18-and-Under Summer League season. With the loss, the Tigers (3-1-2) were left with 10 points and in third place.
In the STXPSA Game of the Week, the Rattlers edged La Joya 2-1 at the San Juan Municipal Park soccer field. The Rattler victory ended La Joya’s four-game undefeated streak and gave the Mission-based Rattlers a firm hold on first place.
An own goal by La Joya and another tally by league leading goal scorer Luis Gómez gave the Rattlers the win and widened their control over the top spot in the league standings.
La Joya equalized the match temporarily in the second half on a score by Mario Morales.
With this result, the Rattlers (5-0-1) accumulated 15 points to remain in first place, while La Joya (3-1-1) fell to fourth place with 10 points.
The loss by La Joya left the Donna-based Indios (2-2-0, 8) as the last undefeated team in the league after their 3-1 victory over San Benito in Donna.
Juan Cruz (24’), Ricky Vargas (35’) and Leo Caverón (49’) scored the game-winning goals for the Indios. Pedro Sánchez tallied San Benito’s lone goal.
In other matches, Mission (3-1-2, 10) defeated a short-handed Hormigas squad 10-4 on a pair of hat tricks by Miguel Vázquez and César Iván Ibáñez to take over the second place slot by goal differential over the Tigers, and La Joya-based España defeated Gatos Negros of Weslaco 2-0.
In the goal-scoring category, the Rattlers’ Luis Gómez retained the league lead with his fifth score of the season. Three players are tied with four goals: César Ibáñez and Aldo Sánchez of Mission, and Daniel García of the Rattlers.
