The Permian boys soccer team took a two-goal second half lead before holding off a determined effort by San Angelo Central in a 3-2 win to remain unbeaten in District 2-6A play Tuesday at Ratliff Stadium.
With the win, the Panthers moved to 11-5-1 overall and 3-0-0-1 in district play.
“It’s been a tight one all the way across,” Permian head coach Luis Carmona said. “I thought our guys worked their tails off in moving the ball well. Overall, I think we’re pretty satisfied with what we’ve been seeing. There’s a lot of work left to be done. We have to figure out the situations in the last ten or 15 minutes. But we’ll figure it out and keep our composure.”
San Angelo Central fell to 6-4-4, 1-1-2.
“We knew Permian was a good team coming in and we made some mistakes,” San Angelo Central head coach Tony Vu said. “After we scored our first goal, I thought we had a lot of momentum. But Permian brought it tonight and a couple of mistakes gave them the lead. It was a back-and-forth game. We’re looking forward to the next time we get to play them.”
It only took San Angelo Central 12 minutes to find its first goal of the night when Zach Grube scored to put the Bobcats ahead, 1-0.
The Bobcats had another opportunity shortly after but the shot was scooped up by Permian goalkeeper Enrique Cabello.
However, Permian responded just ten minutes later on an equalizer by Johnny Cuellar to make it 1-1.
Just a few minutes later, Cuellar scored again for the Panthers, beating San Angelo Central’s goalkeeper in a footrace to make it 2-1.
Permian’s lead remained at one-goal at the half.
The Panthers extended their lead just five minutes into the second half when Iker Munoz found the back of the net.
San Angelo Central got a goal back with a strike by Andrew Espinoza to make it a one-goal game.
The Bobcats then controlled possession for the majority of the final 20 minutes, trying to get an equalizer but came up short as Permian’s defense held them off.
“Guys were a little aired out in the end and we ended up using an extra defender and that was key,” Carmona said. “We played well and reacted well.”
Permian will next face Midland High at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Astound Broadband Stadium in Midland.
The Bobcats will next face Wolfforth Frenship at 7:30 p.m. in San Angelo.
