Heat falls to Leones

By J.J. VELA
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

RICHMOND — On a hot and muggy East Texas afternoon, the Laredo Heat (5–3–4, 19 points) were not able to seal the deal and leave Houston with three much-needed points in the Mid-South Division playoff race.

A tough and resilient Houston Leones (3–7–1, 10 pts.) team tied the Heat in the 29th minute with a goal from Jay Ambrosy, just four minutes after the Heat’s Raul Quinones got the Gateway City club up 1 – 0 in the 25th minute.

With the tie in Houston, the Heat now fall into third place in the division behind the Austin Aztex (8–2–1, 25 pts.) and the El Paso Patriots (6–4–3, 21 pts.). The Mississippi Brilla (5–4–2, 17 pts.) are also gaining on the Heat as they sit in fourth place, just two points behind Laredo.

In the Premier Development League (PDL), the top two teams in each division advance into the playoffs. The Heat has been part of the PDL’s playoffs since their first year in the league in 2005, winning the league title just last year.

This three-year streak in now in danger of ending with only four league games left in the season. On the bright side of things, two of the four remaining games for the Heat will be versus Austin (Thursday, July 3 in Austin) and versus El Paso (Wednesday, July 16 in Laredo) and will give Laredo an opportunity to go out fighting and clawing for a playoff spot.

The Heat took on the Leones without the services of three of their regular starters in the lineup as Dany Galvan didn’t play due to an injury he has been nursing for about three weeks and Felix Garcia and Oliver Mulamba, both serving suspensions.

Garcia served his suspension for getting a red card last week in El Paso and Mulamba having accumulated five yellow caution cards, an automatic one game suspension.

Heat Notes: In its crucial game next week in Austin, the Heat will be playing without Raul Quinones who will serve a one game suspension for having received two yellow cards in Houston.