Mustangs rally, beat Pirates in shootout

MURPHY — The Phoenix boys soccer team raced out to an early lead, but couldn't hang on late against Hidden Valley in a physical Skyline Conference match on Wednesday.

The Mustangs, who trailed by two goals at halftime, rallied to send the contest into overtime and then knocked in four goals during a penalty shootout en route to a 3-2 victory.

In the shootout, Alan Rojas, Ian Hernandez, Robin Klimczak and Thomas Fate launched in Hidden Valley's scores. The Pirates found the back of the net once in the OT session: Jose Flores scored after Phoenix missed its first two attempts.

Fate's goal sealed the winning deal.

Alex Vela scored from about 20 yards out around the 10th minute and Omar Iboa netted a goal from about 19 yards away in the 21st minute for the Pirates (2-3-1, 1-2 Skyline).

"At one point it looked like we were comfortably in control, and then we found out we had a match," Phoenix head coach Dennis Flenner said.

The Mustangs (5-1, 3-0 Skyline) answered with second-half goals by Fate (59th minute) and Sean Murphy (70th minute), both coming on corner kicks by Hernandez.

Central midfielder Junior Esqueda, a senior, led the Pirates' defense.