Sam Houston shuts out Keller Central in boys soccer playoff opener
Arlington Sam Houston scored an early goal and made it stand up in a 2-0 victory over Keller Central in a Class 6A boys bi-district matchup on a windy Thursday night at Pennington Field.
Nate Kopetsky drove a ball left-footed into the back of the net four minutes into the match to give Sam Houston an early lead.
Just a minute after Sam Houston’s goal, Central’s Abraham DeAnda had a free kick from 20 yards out to the right of goal, but his shot directed straight to Texans goalkeeper Izac Garcia.
Sam Houston (17-2-2) missed an opportunity to double its lead in the 16th minute. A restart from near the right sideline went begging through the Keller Central (11-8-2) penalty area, but no attacking players could get a foot to the ball.
Later in the first half, Jose Ortiz came flashing through on a Jason Ramirez corner kick, but his header was wide left.
In the final minute of the first half, Central’s Oabona Moncho let fly a long-range effort from 35 yards out, but it sailed over the crossbar.
Keller Central thought they’d equalized in the 69th minute, but as the ball was deflecting around in the Sam Houston area, it was judged to have crossed out of bounds and the goal was waved off.
Sam Houston sealed the game in the 78th minute when Keller Central knocked in a Texans’ corner kick for an own goal.
This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Sam Houston shuts out Keller Central in boys soccer playoff opener."