After suffering a tough loss to El Paso, the DFW Tornados needed to get some points out of the next match against the West Texas Sockers.  West Texas would not by any means be an easy victory since they had defeated the Laredo Heat, who currently hold first place in our conference.

The game began with total Tornado domination.  They showed great resiliency and ability to bounce back from a loss.  In the 16^th minute, West Texas was awarded a penalty kick, and it seemed as if the game would begin going down hill from there for the Tornados.  However, goalkeeper Janrai Gravely stepped up and psyched out a West Texas player, who missed the shot completely.  As a result, Gravely sparked some much-need life into the Tornados game.  Then in the 24^th minute, Gravely stepped up again by  saving 4 consecutive shots inside the 6 yard box to pump up his teammates, who then began to produce some attacking play!  The Tornados tore through the West Texas defense and launched opportunities left and right.  However, in soccer, it doesn’t matter how many opportunities you have; its about how many opportunities you put away. That’s exactly what West Texas did in the 50^th minute.  A rebound off a bad cross resulted in a volley from the outside corner of the 18 yard box, which went past Gravely, near the post for a goal.  The score was 1-0, Sockers.  Since this game was the second home game for the Tornados, they didn’t want to suffer two losses in a row.  Coach Paul Robinson made the appropriate changes to prevent a loss at half time and in the second half.  With 4 forwards on top, the Tornados scored in the 79^th minute from a cross by Alex Fichera to Ricardo Scala.  Scala put the ball in the back of the net with a solid header. 1-1 with ten minutes to go.  Exciting, aggressive, fast pace soccer was being played with passion from both sides.  With a few questionable calls by the referee, including the first ever red card taken back because of “mistaken identity” by the referee that I have ever witnessed, didn’t discourage the players.  In the 89^th minute Dominic Castiallo made a rifling header from a cross to put the ball away, but credit went to the West Texas keeper (former PDL player of the week) for making a miraculous save.  The game ended with a final score of 1-1.

This game showed that the Tornados had a lot of heart and made the appropriate changes to attack when they needed to.  It’s one thing to try and score to win the game, but it’s another thing to score and try not to lose the game!  That is exactly what the Tornados did by stealing 2 points away from West Texas. 

This week the Tornados will be on the road to El Paso and then West Texas.  They will have to maintain their composure on the road in order to come away with maximum points!  With class, composure, and dedication to getting better, there is nothing that this squad can’t do!