Pro Soccer: Garcia makes most of playing time

MIDLAND It has been a tough season for Lukas Garcia.

Two full seasons after he played his last game for UTPB, Garcia made the Sockers’ roster out of training camp, but cracking the starting lineup has been more difficult.

So far, Garcia is still looking for his first start. When West Texas United coach Warren Cottle sent him onto the pitch early in the second half of the Sockers’ 3-2 victory over FC Dallas on Tuesday night, Garcia wanted to make an impact.

“It was 1-1 when I went in the game,” Garcia said. “When you play a pro team, you always want to come away with a win.”

Garcia, an Odessa native who was an All-Region player at Permian, got his chance with the game winding down.

Taking a feed from Ramon Martinez on the left side of the net, Garcia took a hard shot that he thought would fly the net by a mile.

“I thought I was going to hit the Citibank sign,” Garcia said, referring to the giant blue ad that graces the bottom of the Grande Communications Stadium scoreboard.

But the ball had other ideas.

Slamming off of an FC Dallas defender, the ball bounced up into the air and past FC Dallas goalkeeper Carsten Christiansen for the game-winner in front of 2,523 fans, the Sockers’ biggest crowd of the season.

Not bad for a guy who’s still trying to adjust to the speed of the game after two years away.

“I think Lukas is progressing,” Sockers head coach Warren Cottle said. “He’s a very mature player, and he’s trying to push his way into the lineup by making things happen.”

Cracking the starting lineup hasn’t happened yet.

Garcia has only played 346 minutes in six games for the Sockers. A midfielder, Garcia hasn’t had many opportunities to spark the West Texas United attack. Getting back into game shape has been hard enough.

“I was away from soccer for two years,” Garcia said. “I took one year off of college soccer, and then I transferred. Getting back to the speed of game play has been a challenge.”

Until Tuesday night.

When the Sockers needed him most, Garcia stepped up with a shot that gave the Sockers their second straight win over the MLS club.

That’s the kind of spark Garcia needed.