The message that Permian girls soccer coach Chad Peterson conveyed to the Lady Panthers at halftime was to just keep doing what they were doing.
Permian, leading by a goal at the break against El Paso Coronado, controlled much of the pace through the first 40 minutes and found the net twice.
But a lapse in concentration allowed the visiting Lady Thunderbirds to cut the lead in half and Peterson just wanted to reinforce the formula that had been successful all season.
The Lady Panthers listened, absorbed the message and then executed.
Game over.
Anai Lopez scored three goals, two of them coming in a 55-second span in the second half, to lead Permian to a 5-1 victory against El Paso Coronado in a Class 6A bi-district playoff game Friday afternoon at Ratliff Stadium.
Kelcie Fuentes and Haylee Lancaster also scored for the Lady Panthers (10-9-3) to face the winner of the L.D. Bell-Keller Central winner in the area round next week.
“It’s great to see them get the reward for all their hard work,” Peterson said. “This is the way that we’ve played all year, but we would hit posts, players in front or the goalkeeper makes a save.
“Today, they got it in their mind that they were going to finish, to get that reward. This was a great win, especially to have a home playoff game and to get a chance to give the seniors a sendoff like this.”
In a game played in steady winds of 25 miles per hour, with occasional gust of 35 mph, it was imperative to keep the ball on the ground and that’s just what the Lady Panthers did.
Controlling the midfield and calmly moving the ball out of danger, Permian methodically worked its way up the pitch and Fuentes was the first to benefit.
Racing down the right side, she drove into the 18-yard box and then crossed up Lady Thunderbirds goalkeeper Estrella Aguilera with a shot across the goal to the left side.
Aguilera dove and got a piece of the shot but couldn’t slow it down enough to keep it out of the net in the 17th minute.
Lopez was next on the scoresheet, taking a through ball from Kaylie Torres on the left side and driving toward the net before calmly sending a shot off the feet of Aguilera and inside the left post in the 25th minute.
El Paso Coronado’s Emily Saenz cut the lead in half with a goal with 4:24 remaining in the first half and two minutes later, Permian goalkeeper Nana Torres and teammate Abagayle Haynes paired up to stop a shot at the left post on a Lady Thunderbirds’ set play.
“They stopped playing a little early there in the first half,” Peterson said. “It’s unfortunate to give up that goal.”
Cue the halftime chat and the Lady Panthers were immediately back in the right frame of mind.
Lopez had the first chance, being denied by Aguilera with a smothering save in the 46th minute.
Permian’s Zujeily Romero forced a save in the 48th minute and then another 43 seconds later.
Lopez opened the floodgates with her second goal of the day after Alyssa Valdez sent a through ball that Lopez chased down on the right side and then finished with a shot into the lower left corner in the 55th minute.
Her hat-trick goal came less than a minute later when a rebound off the crossbar on a shot by Romero landed at her feet and she quickly finished for a 4-1 lead.
“It’s very exciting,” Lopez said of the victory and moving on in the playoffs. “We had worked hard all year and at halftime we talked and knew that we had to continue to work hard.
“40 minutes of pain was worth it to get the win.”
Lancaster capped the scoring with another right-to-left goal that Aguilera was able to deflect, but not enough to prevent the goal.
Permian finished with 19 shots in the game, 13 on goal.
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
