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BROWNSVILLE, Texas - With a pair of goals by Alán Cortinas, the East All-Stars came from behind to defeat the West All-Stars 3-2 on Tuesday in the inaugural South Texas Premier Soccer Association’s 18-and-Under Interleague All-Star Game played at the Brownsville Sports Park.
"It was a great game, both teams gave it all they had and never gave up," said the game’s co-organizer Miguel Puente. "Along with some good and entertaining soccer, the kids had a lot of fun, and that’s what’s most important."
The decisive second-leg match of the All-Star Game series will be played on Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Valley View High School Stadium in Hidalgo. The winner of the All-Star Game series will be determined by aggregate score. In the event that the score is tied at the end of regulation in second match, the winner will be decided by penalty kicks. A trophy presentation will follow the match.
The East All-Stars, which represent the STXPSA 18-U Summer League and is made up of players from La Joya to San Benito, opened up the scoring in the first 10 minutes of play when José Ángel "Torito" Soto put the ball into sthe lower left corner of the net for a quick 1-0 East lead.
A few minutes later, Soto increased the East’s lead to 2-0 on a penalty kick.
Soto had a third opportunity to score, but his attempt sailed over the crossbar.
The East woke up minutes before the end of the first half when Cortinas cut the deficit to 2-1. In the opening minutes of the second half, Jorge Elizalde equalized the match at 2-all with the best goal of the match. Elizalde’s shot from outside the box found the upper right corner of the goal and sailed in just past the outstretched arms of the West goalkeeper.
Finally, it was Cortinas who sealed the come-from-behind victory when he tallied his second score of the match to give the East a 3-2 lead.
