ABILENE — The Region I No. 3 San Angelo Lake View boys soccer team’s best season since 2022 ended in the Class 4A Division I area round of the playoff loss against Decatur in a 3-2 decision at Shotwell Stadium on Tuesday.
Senior forward Giovanni Mendoza scored both of the Chiefs’ goals in the 44th and 66th minutes. Keeper Sebastian Heredia also racked up 10 saves. However, Decatur outshot Lake View 23-14, with 13 shots on goal to the Chiefs’ five.
“First of all, all praise to God,” Lake View coach Kyle Jones said. “He blessed us and put us in the position to play. We knew they would be a great opponent coming into this game. We knew they would push us to our limit. (Decatur) is big, fast and physical. But these boys played as hard as they could. They left everything out on the field.”
Lake View ends its season with a 20-3-1 record, undefeated district championship and bi-district title with a 4-3 win over El Paso Asutin — the team’s first playoff win since 2022.
“Our program is only on its way up,” Jones said. “I don’t see it dropping off, I see us getting better. It hurts to lose tonight, but sometimes you learn your biggest lessons from losses. We played four freshmen tonight and two sophomores almost the entire game, so the fact that those young guys hung with this team, with Decatur, who’s a great team and tops in the region, along with us, it shows that we’re on our way up and make sure we can be in the same spot.”
The Region I top-ranked Eagles improved to 16-1-2 and moved on to the regional semifinal game, where they will match up against Life Waxahachie.
See how things went down in the matchup below.
The San Angelo Standard-Times is bringing you live coverage of the 4A DI area playoff game between Lake View and Decatur. Read below for updates, highlights and more.
Live score updates for the San Angelo Lake View vs Decatur Region I Class 4A Division I area playoff game
6:50 p.m. — Decatur beats San Angelo Lake View 3-2 in the second round of the Region I Class 4A Division I playoffs.
6:44 p.m. — Iziah Rios with a shot on goal for the Chiefs after both teams have juggled possession with only a few chances on goal for the past few minutes of game clock.
6:34 p.m. — Roserto Fernandez scores a goal for Decatur as he dribbles past the defense and hits over Heredia’s punch. The Eagles lead 3-2 with 10:45 left in the game.
6:32 p.m. — Decatur with another shot on goal from the right side of the pitch, but it rolls past the opposite post.
6:29 p.m. — Mendoza with his second goal for Lake View after the keeper loses handle of the ball. Mendoza stuck with the first shot and got the chip-in shot to tie the game at 2-2 with 15:30 in the game.
6:26 p.m. — Another stoppage with an injury to Evan Gallegos. The Chiefs had a shot on goal, but the Decatur keeper made the save.
6:17 p.m. — Decatur scores again on a strike into the top right corner off an errant pass from Lake View. The Eagles take a 2-1 lead with 24:54 left in the second half.
6:12 p.m. — Heredia with another save, punching out the shot attempt from Decatur’s Zane Martinez.
6:10 p.m. — There’s a stoppage of the game as Mendoza hobbles off the field for the Chiefs. Subbing in will be freshman Santiago Soria.
6:04 p.m. — The Chiefs get their first goal of the game on a shot up the middle from Giovanni Mendoza. Lake View ties it up 1-1 with 36 minutes left in the second half.
6:02 p.m. — Heredia picks up another save, this time diving on a shot in the bottom right of the goal.
6 p.m. — We are underway for the second half of the game, and the Eagles start with possession.
5:48 p.m. — Lake View with another shot on goal as time expires in the first half, but the keeper punches it out for a save. The Eagles lead in shots on goal with eight, while the Chiefs have six.
5:44 p.m. — Heredia picks up another save, jumping on a Decatur shot.
5:40 p.m. — Decatur with its sixth shot on goal of the first half, but again, Heredia reads it and falls on it for another save.
5:36 p.m. — Another shot on goal for Decatur, but the keeper Heredia reads it perfectly and hauls it in.
5:32 p.m. — The Chiefs are aggressive again off a goal kick, but Santiago Martinez’s shot is just wide left.
5:31 p.m. — Decatur with another shot on goal, the team’s fourth of the first half, but it sails wide left of the goal.
5:29 p.m. — Decatur with another shot on goal off a corner kick opportunity, but it sails over the goal.
5:27 p.m. — Decatur strikes first on a cross and header. The Eagles lead 1-0 with 20:03 left in the first half.
5:24 p.m. — Lake View’s Evan Gallegos with another shot on goal for the Chiefs after a corner kick attempt, but it sails over the goal.
5:18 p.m. — Lake View’s Ulises Chavez with a free break behind the defense, but his shot is saved by Decatur’s keeper.
5:17 p.m. — Calvin Kemp with a shot on goal for the Eagles, but Lake View’s keeper Sebastian Heredia gets the save.
5:10 p.m. — Lake View’s Ulises Chavez with the first shot on goal for either team with a rocketed kick off his left, but it sails over the goal.
5:05 p.m. — Kickoff is underway here at Shotwell Stadium. The Chiefs will start with possession.
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Decatur downs Lake View boys soccer in tight second round playoff bout
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
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