Matadors Fall Short In Historic Home Opener

The day finally arrived for the Lubbock Matadors' first game of the season. Highly anticipated event fans have been waiting for a long time now, and boy did they show up in full force. A whooping 4,239 fans were in attendance. The game may not have gone the way the Matadors wanted, but the fans' support proves Lubbock is behind this team 100%.

The Matadors came out looking unstoppable, quickly putting pressure on the Vaquero's defense. The chemistry between Luke Jones (9) and Juan Valdez Lopez (10) was sensational as they were both breaking down the defense together seemingly whenever they wanted to do it. Then in the 8th minute Kotaro Hirokawa the starting left-back, made a run with the ball down the left sideline and gave Jones a fantastic pass, which gave Jones a shot straight into the net resulting in the first goal in Matador's history. 

Everything seemed to be going the Matador's way until the 35th minute when Fort Worth struck like Lightning with two goals minutes apart. One of a corner that the Matadors weren't able to get to, allowing the Vaqueros midfielder to head in for a goal to tie up the game. In the following possession, the vaqueros were able to push the ball down the field, the Matador midfielders couldn't get back on defense in time, and the Vaqueros quickly broke down the defense to score an easy goal. The halftime whistle blew, and the score was Fort Worth 2-1 Matadors. 

In the second half, not much changed. The Matadors had a chance to tie the game, but Lopez was called offside, taking away the goal. The Matadors wouldn't get another chance to score again, and Fort Worth would take on one more goal late in the game. 

The game may not have gone the way Lubbock fans wanted, but the Matadors are a talented group, and with a long season still ahead of us, the Matadors will be in the middle of the fight for the lone star conference playoffs. It was clear Lubbock S.C was more talented. However, they have to put it together for a full 90 minutes.

After the game, Coach Gilbert had this to say about his team's performance "Probably mixed emotions this a process were building we have to look at our play, not our result did we commit to who we are our identity our principles this our focus right now for the first 30 minutes we were really good we were a little naive and took our foot off the gas it's a great opportunity for us to learn from this" 

Next week, the Matadors travel to Fort Worth to avenge their loss and secure the franchise's first win.