The Laredo Heat are blazing a trail in the Premiere Development League, and for the third consecutive year, a PDL record, the club will be challenging for the championship title. The Heat gets a chance to defend its title after defeating Tyrell Burgess and the Reading Rage 2-0 at the Texas A&M International Soccer grounds in front of 1,693 fans.
The match was delayed after thunderstorms moved through Texas last night.
The soccer lights at TAMIU are going to be shining bright come next Saturday as the Heat host the Thunder Bay Chill, who defeated the Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 on Saturday.
Defender Pedro Ramos deposited the game-winner for the Heat, and Felix Garcia padded the lead in the second half.
“This is three years in a row that we are in the championship, it might look easy, but it is anything but,” Heat midfielder Juan De Dios Ibarra said. “Hopefully the city will come cheer us on and we’ll have a packed stadium.”
The elemental battle is going to be aired on the Fox Soccer Channel, which for the past three years has set-up base in the Gateway City.
On Friday, Heat Captain Daniel Galvan proclaimed that the team was going to go all out, leaving its heart and soul on the field.
What he didn’t foresee was that he would leave a little blood, too and miss 20-plus minutes of the first half.
Galvan suffered a blow to the mouth that required stitches in the 24th minute of the match and was forced to the bench, where he stayed for the rest of the opening half while leaving the Heat down a man.
His teammates, though, did more then just pick up the slack, as they kept control of the sphere and dictated the contest before scoring the game winner in the 41st minute via the foot of the unlikely Ramos, who knocked in his first PDL career goal.
“It was a complicated game, we played 15 or 20 minutes without out Danny and thankfully we pulled through,” Ibarra said. “We didn’t lose our cool and we kept at it. We would like to let the fans know that there is another week left and we ask for their support.”
It was fitting that the score came from the effort of the Heat’s other unlikely hero, Greg Mulamba, who had a strong outing all night and came into the contest with two goals in the last two playoff games.
Mulamba shook off a couple of defenders as he made his way into the box via the right side of the field.
As he broke into the area, he sent a cross that pinballed off a pair of Rage players and landed at the feet of Ramos.
“I’m not very used to that (scoring), I usually go in for headers but I’m happy,” Ramos said. “The bounce came my way and thank God that I was right there to push the ball in.”
The scoring was capped by another fine combination between Theo Browne and Garcia in the 78th minute.
Browne broke free down the right side, and just as he crossed the top area line he fed Garcia, who was speeding down his right side down the middle of the box.
Garcia scooped up the pass and sent the ball past goalie Jeremy Vuolo.
It was his fourth goal of the postseason, and the one that earned the Heat a chance at defending its PDL championship.
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