Less than 24 hours after battling out a 4-2 win over Magnolia, A&M Consolidated head boys soccer coach Jarrod Southern knew he couldn’t push his players’ fatigued legs.
The middle portion of Friday’s District 21-5A match against College Station would have to be a defensive battle of attrition. Then Consol used a counterattack to score the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory at Tigerland Stadium.
“A lot of those players that played tonight played 70 or 80 minutes yesterday,” Southern said. “So we had to adjust the tactics a little bit to keep that in mind, because if we would have gone helter skelter for the full 80, I think the players would have lost it.”
College Station (8-3–1, 3-1), which beat Montgomery 3-1 on Thursday, was content to hold the majority of possession through the first 50 minutes of the game.
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Consol (10-0, 4-0) had the first scoring chance on a turnover that created a breakaway for striker Colton Chmelar, who placed his shot into the left leg of oncoming goalkeeper Horacio Cocone.
With six minutes to play in the first half, Consol made good on it’s transition chances. Bryce Marianno cut across the field 25 yards from the goal and drew a whistle thanks to a late tackle from a College Station defender. After sizing up the shot from distance, he bent a shot around the Cougar wall and off the right post into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The strike was especially bitter for the Cougars as it came two minutes after a goal was disallowed for a foul inside the 6-yard box. A long throw-in by right back Brent Butler sailed to the back post and went into the net in a chaotic scramble. Officials deemed a Tiger defender was pushed in the process, and the goal was taken off the scoreboard.
“Their guys falling in the box and [the referee] calling goals back is pretty aggravating when they don’t even know who pushed them, but it bounces your way some times and bounces against you sometimes,” College Station head coach Chad Peevey said. “I say it’s never lucky. We’ve got to work harder and get the ball in the back of the net.”
The Cougars still managed to tie the score just 32 seconds before halftime. A cross by Jonathan Corado sailed over its intended target but dropped in the path of a streaking Marcelo Garza, who ripped a shot into the left side of the net for a 1-1 tie.
Its as just the fourth goal the Tiger defense and goalkeeper Conner Guierrieri had allowed this season.
“They put pressure on us, so we not only had to deal with what we wanted to do but what they could, because they have an incredibly technical midfield,” Southern said. “So it was just being aware of that and the pace and threat up front, too.”
As College Station continued apply pressure to start the second half, Consol found an opening down the right side of the pitch. Winger Ben Henderson picked up a loose ball in his defensive half near the sideline and blazed across midfield, chipping a pass over the Cougar defense to Chmelar. The striker lofted a nearly 12-foot-high chip over the oncoming goalkeeper and one-hopped the shot into the goal in the 44th minute for a 2-1 lead.
The goal turned on the attack for College Station, which held possession for the majority of the second half, but the Cougars weren’t able to find another equalizer.
