Boys soccer: Two early goals carry Panthers past Sandies

Colby Pyron provided all the offense Permian High School's boys soccer team needed for a victory in less than 12 minutes Saturday at Ratliff Stadium.

The junior forward scored two goals in the early stages for a 2-0 victory against Amarillo High in a District 2-5A game, with the second goal coming in difficult circumstances.

Pyron appeared to be in a bad situation when he was surrounded by four Sandies defenders, but he worked his way free and unleashed a left-footed shot to give the Panthers (11-0 overall, 8-0 district) a cushion.

"I was just trying to get out there and find someone open," Pyron said. "I just saw the shot and I took it."

That worked out well in the 12th minute of the game, as did Pyron's shot less than five minutes in when he received a long pass from Collin Greene and scored for a 1-0 advantage.

Pyron also had three-goal games against Amarillo Tascosa and Amarillo High, but the two-goal outburst early against Amarillo High (5-3-3, 4-2-2) was extra special.

"We knew they had a good defense," Permian head coach Luis Carmona said. "We wanted to press their defense and Pyron, that's how he got the second goal. He was pressing the (Amarillo High) defenders and he broke through and got the second one. He's been scoring goals all over Texas, but this was his first goal here at Ratliff, so it's good for him."

What wasn't necessarily good for the Panthers was the rest of the game.

They did earn their eighth shutout of the season with the victory, which was a good thing, but it took more than a few nervous moments to finish it off. For that matter, the two-goal lead did not keep Permian out of danger until the game ended.

Amarillo High had speedy attackers and created more than a few chances, though Permian - led by strong play from senior goalkeeper Chris Benavides in a game that shouldn't have been close at all - held off for the victory.

"We just can't start out of the gates real quick and let off the gas pedal," Permian head coach Luis Carmona said. "Eventually we're going to run into a team that's going to capitalize and come in on full cylinders and catch up and eventually overlap us. I think that's the one thing - being a senior-loaded team, we've got to understand that we've got to play 80 minutes. Overall, we'll take the win, but Amarillo was a tough team."