The Odessa High girls soccer team was still riding the high of Melissa Nicolas’ first-half goal when Permian Anai Lopez went tumbling to the turf inside the penalty box.
Whistle, foul, penalty shot and the Lady Panthers had a quick chance to equalize before halftime.
Lady Bronchos’ goalkeeper Alexia Hernandez had other plans.
Diving to her left on the shot off the foot of Permian’s Caydance Pornan, Hernandez made the save at the left post and then, as the ball bounded across the goal mouth, corralled the rebound before anyone could get to it.
That save, with 3:30 remaining in the first half, along with Nicolas’ goal, allowed Odessa High to hold on for a 1-0 victory in the District 2-6A opener for both teams Friday at Ratliff Stadium.
“Alexia made several good saves but that was huge for us,” Odessa High coach Cecilia Keller said. “I thought we played well most of the game, but Anai gave us a lot of trouble.
“But it’s a very good win for us.”
Odessa High improved to 5-5-3 overall, 1-0 in district, good for three points and a first-place tie with Wolfforth Frenship.
Permian dropped to 3-7-2, 0-1.
Nicolas opened the scoring in the 28th minute by being in the right place at the right time after teammate Tatum Ray sent the ball into a scrum of players in front of the Permian net on a free kick.
The rebound fell to Nicolas’ feet and her shot was true for the 1-0 lead.
Lopez was a menace for the Lady Panthers, with long runs down the left side, along with barreling into the middle of the field to take possession when needed.
She found herself on the turf several times while challenging defenders.
Lopez nearly created a second penalty chance when she went 1-on-1 with a Lady Bronchos’ defender near the midway point of the second half, racing into the penalty box from the left side.
The duo battled for the ball toward the end line and when both went down in a heap, the Permian faithful were screaming for a penalty, while the Odessa High fans breathed a sigh of relief when the referee signaled to play on.
That called seemed to energize the Lady Panthers as they increased the pressure on the Lady Bronchos’ back line.
With 20 minutes to play, a Permian corner kick was sent wide left of the next.
Five minutes later, Lopez sent in a cross that Hernandez picked out of the air before it could find a Lady Panthers’ teammate.
At the 12:45 mark, Lopez volleyed a shot from the top of the box that forced Hernandez to make a diving save to her right.
The attack wasn’t over as Permian’s Angeli Nunez had a shot rattle off the crossbar, followed by teammate Kyler Crawford pushing an off-balance shot wide right after Hernandez came up to play the ball at the top of the box and left the net wide open.
Lopez then made one more run, splitting defenders on the right side of the box and was taken to turf just outside the penalty area, resulting in a free kick, which was defending well by the Lady Bronchos.
>> Follow Lee Scheide on Twitter at @OALeeScheide
