It was a wet night in Kearney for the opening round of the Central Nebraska Soccer Tournament and NEST’s game of the week that saw Class B No. 2 Lexington defeat Class A No. 6 Grand Island 3-1.
Lexington coach Joel Lemus said after the game that it was nice to have a win without overtime.
“They came out and played,” Lemus said. “You know, I think from the beginning and that’s one of the things that I think we’ve been lacking is, is at the beginning we kind of falter a little bit or don’t play our best.”
Lexington gave out the first punch of the evening when Grand Island attempted to pass the ball back to their goalie, Ashtyn Roberts when Jose Leiva saw an opportunity. Leiva beat Roberts to the ball and put it in the back of the net in the ninth minute.
“I think it gives every team confidence and that’s what it did for us,” Lemus said. “Jose Leiva was in the right place at the right time and he did what he had to do.”
Lexington did not let up either. The Minutemen continued to gain momentum throughout the first half by limiting the Grand Island offense. The Islanders were held to no shots on goal as halftime drew near until Christian Hernandez got the ball at his feet with just over three minutes remaining. Hernandez threaded the needle to Kevin Sanchez who slipped the equalizer past Gelvin Valle to make it 1-1 entering halftime.
Lexington responded quickly into the second half as Leiva added to his point total on the day, this time with an assist. Leiva found Naelson Garcia Villa-de Leon who put the ball to the right of Roberts to put the Minutemen back in front 2-1 in the 45th minute.
“I saw an opportunity because there was too much people in one space,” Leiva said. “I thought to give it to (Garcia Villa-de Leon) because he could take on people good too, and he can shoot it. So I’m proud of him.”
Lexington would control the rest of the second half limiting Grand Island to one shot. The Minutemen were also not done on the scoreboard quite yet as they added an insurance goal in the 76th minute off the foot of Edyn Cruz-Lima.
Lexington once again proved themselves a force to be reckoned with as they scored their fourth victory over a ranked opponent of the season. The Minutemen outshot Grand Island 11-4.
Having played eight games in the opening two weeks of the season, including four in overtime, Lemus said that is what makes champions.
“They’ve gone through a gauntlet of games, and they’ve persevered,” Lemus said. “I think that’s what makes champions and that’s what we’re shooting for this year.”
The win advances Lexington to 7-1 on the season and will return to Kearney High School tomorrow to face Kearney at 2 p.m. in the championship game. Grand Island falls to 4-2 and will take on Schuyler at Noon on Saturday.
Elijah Moser is a contributor for Nebraska Soccer Talk, currently studying Sports Communication at the University of Nebraska – Kearney.
