Heat scorch Leones 7-0

By NINO CARDENAS
LAREDO MORNING TIMES

The Laredo Heat made sure it collected the three vital points versus the Mid-South Division’s last place Houston Leones on Saturday night at the Texas A&M International soccer complex.

The Heat netted a franchise record seven goals, and backup goalie Jorge Muniz recorded his first shutout as a member of the black and red club, as Laredo earned a demonstrative 7-0 win.

It was a 180-degree turn in performance for the club that had tied the Leones 1-1 back in Houston earlier in the summer.

“We were able to finish off our opportunities,” Heat Coach Israel Collazo said. “We had the same options in Houston but we didn’t capitalize.”

Collazo served his suspension after being ejected from last week’s contest in Austin and watched Saturday’s game from the press box.

The Heat take on El Paso at TAMIU on Wednesday in the game that’ll determine who gets to advance to the postseason.

The Heat (6-4-4, 22 points) are chasing the Patriots (7-4-3, 24) for the second and final playoff spot. El Paso handed the Brilla their first franchise loss at home, ever, Saturday with a 3-2 victory.

The Austin Aztex (10-4-1, 31), with the division title already clinched, lost to New Orleans 1-0 on Saturday.

The Aztex get the benefit of trying out players without worry as the roster freeze approaches on Wednesday.

For Laredo, the Houston Leones game offered the opportunity for Collazo to get one final look at the players at his disposal before announcing the final 26.

One such player was Kian Sterling, who in his debut knocked in a goal and set-up another one to make his case.

The goal parade included two by Juan De Dios Ibarra and one by Felix Garcia in the first half.

The second half, with the Heat emptying its bench, scores came via Silas Blackwell, Sterling, and Averil Ringheim.

The Heat controlled the game from the start and moved the ball at will against a Leones team which looked as if it was going through the motions in anticipation of the offseason.

It took the Heat only eight minutes to get on the scoreboard when Isaac Morales hit Ibarra in stride with a perfect pass, which Ibarra capitalized on.

The Heat’s offense was relentless all night, out-shooting the Leones 21-3.

Garcia added to his goal tally after several close calls in the 22nd minute.

His goal came courtesy of a setup centering pass by Ibarra, who found the U.S. national team player for the 2-0 lead.

The third goal was also a team concoction as Leone Cruz set the wheels in motion by passing to Ibarra, who gave it to Garcia on top of the right box area. Garcia returned the ball to Ibarra, and the Monterrey product beat goalie Juan Carlos Hernandez with a far post shot in the 32nd.

With the game in control, the Heat went to try-out mode in the second half but the offensive onslaught didn’t slow down.

Blackwell, who is nicknamed “El Conejito”, sprinted from the left side of the box and picked his angle for the fourth score of the game in the 67th minute.

Blackwell then gift wrapped the fifth goal when he took a pass on the right side, worked his way into the box, baited the goalie out of position and served Sterling in the 74th minute.

The favor was returned in the 81st minute when Sterling set-up Blackwell, who managed to send the pass past the goalie despite having a defender draped over him.

Three minutes later, Ringheim scored his first goal of the season on an assist by Salazar.