The Pflugerville High boys soccer team knocked off cross-town rival Connally 4-0 on Tuesday

“We came out, played hard and beat a really good team as we were evenly matched,” Panther coach Jonathan Spradley said.

The two teams came out attacking and tried to find a gap in each others defense. The Cougars opened with a chance in the 37th minute, which was taken by Bryan Gavarrete as he swung in a nice shot that was saved by Panther goalie Andy Martinec.

The Panthers came down and had a chance of their own with Tito Rincon letting loose a shot that was cleanly caught by Brooks Grubb.

The Cougars would pressure with a pass by Gavarrete to Jeff Anumu whose shot was blocked by Martinec and fell in front for a rebound chance that was then gobbled up by the Panther keeper.

The two teams traded attempts and were evenly matched, shutting each other down through much of the first half.

Both goalies stayed busy as the two teams ripped shots from all over the field. The Panthers drove deep into the Cougar side of the field and came up with a big goal with 12 seconds left on the clock. Ruben Lopez helped set up Rincon who blasted a shot from close range that found it’s way past the stretch of Grubbs who was diving for the ball.

The Panthers wasted no time in getting back to where they left off following halftime. A mere two minutes into the second half, the Panthers found paydirt. Lopez let loose on a ball from outside the box on the right side that flew into a crowd and caught Grubbs off guard as he was screened to put Pflugerville up 2-0.

Connally countered with a scoring opportunity as Servando Borja came racing up and cracked a wicked shot that was saved by the diving Martinec.

Both sides continued to unleash shots at one another that came up short. Brandon McFarland increased the Panther lead by ripping his shot into the back of the net.

The Cougars had some chances that were snubbed out by the physical play of the Panther defense. Several yellow cards were handed out.

The Cougars sent a long pass that Martinec read and intercepted despite the hard charging Anumu to hold them scoreless.

The Panthers took the ball down and won a corner with 4:46 left in the game. Steven Strybos dribbled in past several Cougars and passed off to Taji Lewis who tapped in the close-range goal capping the Pflugerville win.