Farmersville’s Yoan Pineda kicks the ball into the air during Monday’s home match against Prosper Richland. Photo by Oladipo Awowale / C&S Media
By David Wolman
When a player for the Farmersville boys soccer team was assessed a red card with 11:51 remaining in the first half for making a sliding tackle with the spikes of his cleats facing upward, the Farmers were forced to play the final 52 minutes with 10 men.
Despite being down a player, Farmersville did not let that slow its offensive attack. In fact, the Farmers got a goal from senior forward Jairo Acosta. However, Farmersville was unable to tie the score. Prosper Richland made the Farmers pay for an overaggressive defensive play near the goal, and the Raiders went on to defeat Farmersville 3-1 at Farmers Stadium on Monday night.
After trailing 2-0 at halftime, Farmersville got on the board in the 46th minute. A corner kick bounced off Acosta’s head, off the body of a Richland defender and back to Acosta. He quickly kicked the ball into the back of the net before the Raiders’ goalkeeper could get set, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
Senior forward Daniel Mendoza came up inches short of tying the score with 21 minutes remaining. He attempted to kick the ball inside the right post, but it did not completely cross the goal line.
Richland took a 3-1 lead with 14:42 left in the match.
The loss came after Farmersville (5-7-1 overall, 3-3-1 District 11-4A) went 3-0-1 over its previous four games, scoring 20 goals during that span.
In an 8-0 win over Pilot Point last Friday, Acosta scored four goals, while Mendoza and senior Christian Aguilar each added two.
The Lady Farmers also entered Monday’s home match against Richland looking to build on recent momentum.
After losing their first three district games by a combined score of 21-3, Farmersville rebounded with wins over Sanger and Pilot Point by scores of 5-0 and 3-0.
A determined Lady Farmers squad attempted to make it three wins in its last four matches. However, despite a strong defensive effort against an offensively skilled Prosper Richland team that had outscored its opponents 57-14 on the season, quick goals in the first minute of each half proved too much to overcome in a 4-0 loss.
Richland needed just 52 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. In a match where the Lady Raiders dominated possession, they had several other chances to extend the lead. Twice, Richland had goals disallowed due to offsides infractions and was also denied on several occasions by quick reactions from Farmersville goalkeeper Zoey Mann. Mann made a save with her left leg near the right post and later punched the ball away on a corner kick.
It remained a one-goal game until the 34th minute, when a Richland player was fouled from behind and the Lady Raiders converted the ensuing penalty kick to take a 2-0 lead.
Richland (10-1-1) further distanced itself from Farmersville (5-9-1, 2-5) by scoring 48 seconds into the second half for a 3-0 advantage.
The Lady Raiders made it 4-0 on a free kick from 20 yards out.
Against Pilot Point, senior Natalie Taylor scored twice, while junior Syah Surles added one goal.
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