Pine Tree Boys Soccer Outruns Lindale for 4A Bi-District Win

TYLER -- Lindale made things interesting for Pine Tree in a 4A bi-district playoff game the Pirates ultimately won 4-1 Monday at Trinity Mother Frances Rose Stadium.

The score does not accurately capture the game. Lindale made Pine Tree earn the win with breakneck pace at the beginning of the game and then again at the end.

Much to the chagrin of Pirates' head coach André Lo.

"They killed us in hustle at the end," Lo said. "Youthfulness, our team is so relatively young that we're playing out there with about six sophomores who are still learning the game. So, they easily get rattled. That's the important thing. That we learn from it. It's actually good because we learned how to tough it out and make things work."

Things started great for the Lindale Eagles. They pushed Pine Tree with their offensive tempo and spread the field wide open.

Once the Pirates got their bearings, however, they showed Lindale they could play fast as well and that the game would be decided by who had more speed.

That's not a style future opponents will want to play with Chris Jordan and Allan Maceda roaming around the field.

Jordan being so athletic that Pine Tree utilized him on the back line where he stopped a few Lindale possessions as well as spending time as a primary offensive weapon.

"My role is kind of anywhere," Jordan said. "I just want to help the team do our best. I don't mind playing where needed because I don't want to lose. I'll whatever it takes to continue going with these guys. I love these guys."

Jordan got the scoring started off of a corner kick with 21:48 to go in the first half. Maceda put Pine Tree up 2-0 in the 25th minute of the match.

You would have thought Maceda put the game away when he scored his second goal of the evening less than two minutes into the second half.

But Lindale didn't fold behind a vocal hometown following that traveled to Tyler.

"We relaxed, and that is a problem," Lo said. "We didn't continue to concentrate and play our game. We started making errors. Careless, missed passes. So they were able to knock the ball over and get us panicked. If we can play against that and get the ball running for us, it will be much easier. But, hey, part of the game. A lot of credit to Lindale. They kept fighting."

It could have been worse for the Eagles. Sweeper Josue Arroyo made a heroic play earlier in the game when he slid to save a ball that was gently rolling in for another Pine Tree goal.

Now out hustling Pine Tree once again, that three-goal deficit didn't seem impossible to overcome.

Senior forward Jesse Emberley put Lindale on the board on an assist from Timmy Moyer with 24:56 to play. Moyer gestured to the Eagles' crowd, asking it to stay in the game.

The fans obliged.

Four minutes later, Emberley broke away from the pack but missed the goal a few feet wide on the right side. Then he barely missed right with 1:53 remaining.

It could have been a different game.

Pine Tree added a fourth goal with 43 seconds left on a penalty kick from True Clark.

"I see any team the same," Maceda said. "They're a really good team. We're a really good team. We play like family and we're going to win the rest of the games."

The Pirates will play Mt. Pleasant in the next round. Lo was hoping to use Rose Stadium on Friday, but a meeting with the Mt. Pleasant coaches will dictate where and when the match is played.

"The key thing for us is the back needs to tighten up," Lo said. "Our back line is relatively young. We have two sophomores playing center back. Three sophomores (on the line) and one junior. So, they are gaining experience here."