GIRLS SOCCER: Permian’s offensive outburst downs Amarillo Tascosa, clinches playoff berth

It was the performance the Permian girls soccer team has been hoping for.

In the nearly three weeks since the Lady Panthers’ last victory over Midland Lee on Feb. 23, they’d been scoreless. Although Permian’s play had vastly improved over that span, it hadn’t lit up the scoreboard.

That definitely changed Tuesday night as Permian downed Amarillo Tascosa 5-0 at Ratliff Stadium in District 2-6A action.

The victory puts the Lady Panthers (14-6-1 overall, 3-4-0-1 district, 10 points) six points ahead of the Lady Rebels in the district standings, clinching them a playoff berth.

“It’s been a long while since not only there’s been a win, but there’s been a win with a dominating performance like we put in … they brought it when they really needed to this evening and that’s a good thing,” Permian head coach Chad Peterson said.

Peterson added after the game that the team hasn’t had the greatest practices this week. Ector County ISD is on Spring Break, meaning that Permian has been practicing at different times than when it is in school.

That didn’t affect the Lady Panthers from the opening whistle against the Lady Rebels however, as six minutes in, Kyree Moreno nearly scored the game’s first goal on a shot from outside the penalty box, but after it went past Amarillo Tascosa’s goalkeeper, it hit the inside of the left post.

The Lady Panthers did open the scoring 32 minutes into the game when Kayla Brito got around a defender and slotted the ball into the back of the net.

Permian took that lead into halftime, before a four-goal outburst in the second half. Opening the floodgates was Tobi McCoy, who ripped a shot from just outside the penalty box into the top-right corner of the net in the 46th minute.

A little more than 10 minutes later, Brito scored her second goal of the game off of a corner kick. Brito found a loose ball and knocked it into an open part of the net from close range.

“Mostly it was just working together as a team and being there and being able to follow through with the balls that the midfielders were playing me,” Brito said about her two tallies. “And it felt good to finally reward them after a long season.”

Permian took a four-goal lead with nine minutes to go in regulation after another scramble for the ball around the net led to a Tye Jones goal.

The game’s final goal was scored with five minutes to go in the game off of the foot of Ailene Castillo, who took a McCoy pass and powered the ensuing shot past the Lady Rebels’ goalkeeper.

“As a team they really didn’t press us very hard,” Peterson said. “Amarillo really didn’t make it very difficult on us to hold the ball and find space.

“This is a big game for us in a whole lot of ways.”

The Lady Panthers’ offense woke up at the right time, as they face off with crosstown-rival Odessa High on Friday night in an important game for playoff positioning.

Permian can now look back at this performance and know it’s still capable of dominating teams with the same effort that it used to win nine straight games in nondistrict play.

“It feels good because now we get to enjoy the game and not worry about it really just being a dogfight for every point that we could get out the season,” Brito added.

GIRLS SOCCER: Permian goes up 3-0 on Amarillo Tascosa on this Kayla Brito goal off of a corner kick. 24 minutes left in the game. pic.twitter.com/rCtNY0nfy6

— Eric Blum (@EricBlumOA) March 13, 2018