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ARLINGTON — About the only thing similar Tuesday night to the last soccer meeting between Arlington Lamar and Arlington Sam Houston was Sam Houston walking away with a victory.
And although it was the Texans’ 10th straight District 3-5A win, the 2-0 triumph paled in comparison to an earlier 8-0 win.
“I don’t think a lot of folks remember that last game was only 2-0 at halftime and a lot closer,” Sam Houston coach Joey Rodriguez said. “We got a couple of goals in the second half and things just snowballed. Tonight it was intense throughout, and we weren’t taking Lamar lightly.”
Sam Houston (15-1-3, 10-0) stayed with its methodical offense, pressuring Lamar goalkeeper Edgar Chavez early in the second half before finally breaking a scoreless tie in the 46th minute.
The Texans worked their fourth straight possession of the second half deep to the right side and drew a right side corner kick.
Mark Hernandez sailed an arching pass to the far side of the goalie box, where Kelvin Gonzalez headed a shot past Chavez into the right corner.
It was the defining moment in eight straight possessions for Sam Houston.
Chavez stopped one shot in the first half, but was forced to face down seven more in the second half.
“We are always trying to get on them quick and we did a much better job in the second half,” Rodriguez said. “We take a lot of pride in what we do on the field so the kids went at it and it worked out for us.”
After staying step-for-step with Sam Houston in the first half, Lamar’s offense went cold in the second with only two possessions.
Both produced scoring chances for the Vikings (10-7-1, 5-5).
In the 57th minute Nick McCaskill’s header off the free kick sailed left of goal and Osseil Maldonado’s header missed just right in the 61st minute.
Sam Houston had 25 possessions for the game and 16 shots, eight on goal.
TJ Marino iced the game with an insurance goal in the 76th minute. He worked the ball right and fired a 12-yard shot past Chavez.
Lamar had 13 possessions and no shots on goal.
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