Delays, and more delays is not the way you want to go into an important match up. Not to mention when your squad is missing a starting center mid, team captain sitting out for a red card, coach in the stands for a red card, and winger out for the season with 3 broken bones in his cheek. Though, the Tornados knew that they had to perform well at Pennington Stadium Friday night.
The match started 30 minutes late due to lightening and Tornado watch. Though when the match started, the Tornados looked like they had great chemistry and were dominating the field. Paulo De Silva had a rocket shot go just above the bar in the 4th minute to keep El Paso on their toes. Then in the 14th minute El Paso was given a free kick about 23 yards out from goal. The El Paso midfielder capitalized on the opportunity by nailing the ball in the lower right hand corner of the net. Then 3 minutes later the referee called another 30 min delay of game due to lightning.
The Tornados came back on the pitch fired up and ready to play. They restarted where they left off by taking a corner kick that Steve McCarthy put in the back of the net with ease. 1-1, was the sore line until the 21st minute when El Paso squeezed a through ball in behind the Tornado defense and put it in the back of the net. 2-1 at the half.
The Tornados came out the second half fired up but soon would have to deal with more adversity. In the 49 minute Dan Summers was given his second yellow/ red card and was forced to leave the match leaving the Tornados with 10 men on the field.. Aggressive play went back and forth until Arturo Ivo had a spectacular run and buried the ball in the back of the net tying up the match to 2-2. Things looked like they were going in the right direction until Rio Grande capitalized on their opportunities in the 65th,73rd,and 82nd minute. The final score of the match was 5-3 El Paso. The Tornados next match up against Laredo, and the Tornados have two days to prepare for this tough match up. The ability is there, and this should be an exciting match up!
