The friendly match between the Scorpions and the Mexican side Tigres UANL set an attendance record at Toyota Field Saturday night with 8,255 screaming fans cheering on their respective teams.
Tigres beat the Scorpions 5-1 in what proved to be a great showcase for the San Antonio soccer community.
Saturday’s match displayed the passion that is present within the city’s soccer community and the possibilities that can be achieved with this kind of excitement. If this match is any indicator of what is to come for the Scorpions in San Antonio, then the future of the young franchise certainly looks bright.
Tigres opened up the match dominating possession, putting pressure on Scorpions’ goalie Pat Hannigan with a plethora of shots. The Scorpions’ backline, led by Stephen DeRoux, held its own until the 31st minute, when the offensive pressure of Tigres became too much to handle and a goal was finally ceded. Damian Alvarez scored the goal for Tigres by tapping in a rebound from a diving header after some great ball movement in the box.
Tigres did not let up and scored just six minutes later in the 37th minute from a beautiful strike by their star player and captain, Lucas Lobos. Lobos dribbled outside the box and fired a shot from about 25 yards out that floated past Hannigan into the top-right corner of the net. The Scorpions had chances of their own throughout the half and were able to get off a decent amount of shots despite all the offensive pressure from Tigres.
The second half mirrored the first, with Tigres keeping the pressure on the Scorpions’ backline and the Scorpions’ looking for opportunistic shot attempts. The Scorpions began the second half putting pressure on Tigres though, when Edin Husic’s attempt went just wide from about 25 yards out, forcing the Tigres goalie, Enrique Palos, to dive towards the left post.
San Antonio kept shooting when it could, using precise passing in the midfield between Husic and Blake Wagner to get chances for forward Fabrice Noel. None of these chances led to points, and in the 60th minute, Tigres once again displayed their offensive prowess with a header from Emanuel Villa that went right past Hannigan into the goal.
Tigres scored again in the 72nd minute when Manuel Viniegra’s strike from about 20 yards out rocketed past a diving Hannigan and into the goal.
The Scorpions would add one of their own in the 80th minute when Fabrice Noel tapped the ball in the net after a great counter attack led to a succession of great passes from the San Antonio midfield. Tigres would add a fifth goal from Alan Pulido to make the final score 5-1.
San Antonio native Sean Arters made his professional debut for the Scorpions when he came on the pitch for Blake Wagner in the 82nd minute.
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