The Permian girls soccer team had some ground to make up early in its District 2-6A matchup with Wolfforth Frenship Tuesday at Ratliff Stadium.
After a second-half jolt, the Lady Panthers did enough to come away with a 4-2 victory.
“We were dead and buried, there’s no other way to put it,” Permian coach Chad Peterson said. “We were a shell of ourselves in the first half; Frenship was winning every ball and outworking us on every step.”
Two late goals from Nyxalee Munoz and a bending score from a corner kick gave the Lady Panthers the push they needed to overcome their issues.
Both teams looked strong defensively to start the match, with each side getting its first shot on goal 16 minutes into the first half.
The action picked up 20 minutes before the break when the Panthers and Tigers broke the deadlock.
Permian’s first goal came after Munoz successfully challenged a defender to keep a ball from going out of bounds, then was fouled inside the 18-yard box to set Mya Gonzales up for a penalty kick.
Gonzales placed the ball down the middle to give the Lady Panthers a one-goal lead with 16 minutes left in the period.
Wolfforth Frenship swiftly counterattacked and it paid off about three minutes later when a Zeta McDannels cross from the left wing was pushed into the Permian goal by Makayla Varela.
Although the Lady Tigers took over the lead eight minutes into the second half, they couldn’t stop Permian from finding its stride on the attacking end.
Munoz responded quickly for the Lady Panthers to tie the match up and Permian swung the momentum in its favor when Anai Lopez scored directly off a corner kick on the left side of the field.
Lopez’s shot was unreachable for the Lady Tigers’ goalkeeper, helping the Lady Panthers regain the advantage.
The match’s final goal was scored by Munoz, who finished a low cross from Gonzales.
“To win it all and to get in, sometimes you’ve got to win a match where you’re not playing well and that was tonight,” Peterson said. “We somehow took four goals and we were not very good tonight.”
The victory helped the Lady Panthers (9-3-3 overall, 5-1-2 district) stay in the fight for one of the top two spots in the district standings.
They’ll shift their attention to crosstown rival Odessa High next, with the match scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
>> Follow Chris Amaya on Twitter at @OA_CAmaya
