The sound of bodies colliding in the midfield dominated the action at Grand Saline Stadium last Tuesday as the Mineola soccer side brought home a 2-0 win.  

The Jackets leveraged a one-man advantage by scoring twice in quick succession to open the second half. Captain Jonathan Ledesma collected both goals with spectacular efforts.

In the 48th minute of play, Ledesma ran down a long ball ahead which he reached just as it neared the southeast corner of the pitch. Two Grand Saline defenders closed in on him. Ledesma deftly played the ball between the defenders, cut back to the middle and slotted a hard, low shot into the long side of the net. The Indian defenders were surprised by the ability of Ledesma to make that initial move by cutting between them. It was a beautiful goal.

Five minutes later, after being batted about the midfield, the ball squirted free to Ledesma in the middle of the pitch. He turned on it and found himself behind the Indian defense. Accelerating out of the midfield, Ledesma was one-on-one with the Grand Saline keeper. He delivered with a crisp, hard shot.

The match was a physical match, more so than most, and played with a very hard edge. There were six yellow cards awarded and a red card. Grand Saline played with 10 men from the 10th minute on.

The Indians took the old soccer adage of playing through the opponent to get to the ball, verbatim. Their tactics did win the Indians some early midfield possession, until the Yellowjackets adjusted to the Indians’ style of play.    

While Grand Saline may have demonstrated more activity in the first half, the Jackets were the more structured side. 

Ledesma, Giovanni Campuzano and Brayan Torres each had excellent chances to score in the first half. Late in the first half David Delapaz took the ball down the wing and found Campuzano with a centering pass. The ball was defended away for a corner but was an example of the strong combination play which the Jackets demonstrated.

It is likely that Coach Shelby Turner calmed the side a bit at the break and reminded them that they were playing with a one-man advantage. The Jackets came out in the second half much more focused on exploiting that advantage. This was paid off with the two Ledesma goals. 

Mineola had to contend with an extraordinarily-quick Grand Saline attacker on the left wing. He gave Mineola fits throughout the game, but the Jackets helped well on defense. The backline of Noah Turner,  Eduardo Jimenez, Paul Stanley and Angel Lopez had a solid game.

Only twice did the Jackets fail to effectively clear the ball from the defensive zone, resulting in two David Reyes saves. 

Mineola also faced a Grand Saline goalkeeper with a strong leg. His goal kicks were offensive weapons, as they almost always put the ball in play within striking range of Mineola’s goal.   

Marco Medina and Eduardo Zavala put in active performances. 

The Jackets certainly are melding as a team as their confidence in where their teammates are on the pitch is beginning to show. 

The Jackets will next be at home on Friday, Feb. 9 when they host Chapel Hill.