GIRLS SOCCER: Odessa High rallies for long-awaited win against Permian

These types of moments haven’t occurred very often in the history of Odessa High School’s girls soccer program.

They’ve become a little more commonplace this season, though, which is why the Lady Bronchos are sitting among the District 3-5A leaders three games into the league schedule.

Nina Bermea slid home a shot off a gorgeous pass from Halie Vasquez in the 76th minute, lifting Odessa High to a 3-2 comeback victory against Permian at Ratliff Stadium.

“Making history, that’s what our main goal is,” Bermea said, “making history this year.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Odessa High vs. Permian

Permian led 2-1 at halftime but Odessa High tied the game 2-2 in the 55th minute when Brittney Deutsch scored on a 40-yard free kick.

The game looked headed for a shootout before Vasquez’s pass sprung Bermea, who scored the game’s opening goal in the 22nd minute off the rebound of a shot by Nichole Pepper.

RELATED: District 3-5A scores, standings

Odessa High (10-5 overall, 2-0-1-0 district, 7 points) snapped a seven-game winless streak against Permian (6-6-1, 1-0-0-2, 3 points), which got goals from Brittony David and Emily Morris for its halftime edge.

“Our team has a problem with getting halfway through the second half and stopping,” Permian sophomore defender Audrey Adkins said. “I think that’s what happened. We let them get the ball and we stopped stepping into tackles and they took advantage of it.”

Momentum clearly swung from Odessa High to Permian shortly after Bermea’s opening goal.

David, who has been out with an injury much of the last few weeks, tied the game 1-1 on a nice shot from about 18 yards out.

Morris then put the Lady Panthers ahead in the 37th minute by finishing off a free kick by Adkins that OHS goalkeeper Lupita Yanez couldn’t handle.

Permian also had a strong start to the second half before Odessa High regained its footing, helped partially by Deutsch’s free kick that tied the game. OHS head coach Cecilia Kellar also said her team played better when she moved Emma Martinez into a wider position at forward while switching Alexa Branum to midfield and Bermea to forward.

“You know it’s a game that’s going to come down to the wire,” Kellar said. “They’re going to fight hard playing against each other. Fortunately we changed a few things around and it worked for us.”

Odessa High last beat Permian in 2008 in the first of two district meetings against each other that season.

Since the Lady Bronchos rallied for a 2-1 victory that game, Permian had been 5-0-2 against Odessa High and had allowed only two goals over the course of those seven games.

“We just didn’t give ourselves enough of a chance to win the game in the second half,” Permian head coach Chad Peterson said. “Full credit to Odessa High. They wanted the game more in the second half.”

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