San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Jaguars avenge last year’s playoff loss
Johnson’s boys soccer team killed two birds with one stone with its 3-0 win over LEE in a District 28-6A match Friday evening at Comalander Stadium.
Not only did the Jaguars (84-2, 5-0-2) stay atop the district standings with their win, they also avenged a 4-1 loss to LEE in the third round of the Class 6A state playoffs last season.
“I think our kids still had a sour taste in their mouths (from the playoff loss),” Jaguars coach David Johnson said. “I asked our guys to go out there and compete for 80 minutes, and I thought if we could do that, the result might come out in our favor and we did just that.”
Johnson has now won two straight and the Jaguars are 50-2 in their last seven matches, a run that has come against an always-rugged District 28-6A schedule.
“This district is brutal,” Johnson said. “Every match is a war and it’s difficult to prepare for a grind every single night, but that’s what this district is. This match was 3-0, but it was competitive throughout and if we make it to the playoffs, it’ll be matches like these that get us ready for it.”
Johnson pressured LEE (8-6, 3-4) early and at the 5:42 mark, the Volunteers committed a foul in the penalty area, giving the Jaguars a penalty kick and a shot at taking the lead. Diego Robles stepped up to the penalty spot and buried his kick in the back of the net to give Johnson a 1-0 lead.
“We gave up that (penalty kick) early and it really hurt,” said LEE coach David Rogers, whose team has lost two straight after alternating wins and losses for six straight matches. “We have to be smarter when the ball is in the penalty area. The play was an aggressive one and it was 50-50 on whether it was a foul, but we just have to be smarter.”
The score stayed 1-0 for the rest of the first half, though the Volunteers did have chances to level the match. The best attempt came in the 24th minute, when Jesus Contreras blasted a shot toward the corner of the net, but Jaguars goalie Andrew Laplaca made a leaping save to keep the match 1-0 Johnson.
Neither team was able to muster much offense in the opening stages of the second half, and it was the Jaguars who found an insurance goal midway through the period. At 61:20, Leo Jauregi sent a cross from the right side into the penalty area, where Robles was waiting, and he blasted a volley into the roof of the goal to make it 2-0 Johnson.
Now down two goals and forced to press forward even more aggressively, LEE gave Johnson more offensive opportunities. At 72:31, Johnson’s Austin Baker got loose from the Volunteers’ defenders and beat the LEE goalie 1-on-1 to add one final goal, closing out the Jaguars’ 3-0 win and giving Johnson its fifth shutout of the season.
“Early in the season, we had some injuries and we had to move some players around,” Johnson said. “We had to get used to some people in some new spots in the lineup and now I think we’re finding our stride. I think this team is really starting to jell, and it’s showing in the results. They’re really playing for each other right now and that’s all I can ask for.”
Johnson and LEE are both back in action Tuesday at 5 p.m. in a pair of District 28-6A matches. Johnson faces Madison (7-4-1, 4-2-1) at Comalander Stadium, while LEE takes on Churchill (8-3-2, 3-2-2) at the BAC West field.