The undefeated and defending division champion Laredo Heat SC (2-0) will be put to the test this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following a 4-0 rout of San Antonio FC 2 in the Heat’s home opener at PEG Energy Stadium on May 21, they’ll hit the road to face Houston FC (0-1-1) on May 28 and AHFC Royals (2-0-1) on May 30.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It’s hard to hit the road for two games after playing in front of the rowdy and passionate crowd in Laredo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Not all of the fields are in the same condition as our field. We know we have a very professional environment and very professional facilities,” Heat coach Johnny Ibarra said. “Not all the teams have the same stuff. At the end of the day, it’s 11 versus 11 on the field and we’re going to show them all we got.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
The first test comes against winless Houston FC, which started the season with a 1-1 tie with AHFC Royals, before falling 4-3 to Global Football Innovation. In the 4-3 thriller, Houston FC went up 2-0 early, and even held a 3-0 lead in the second half, but three goals in the final 10 minutes propelled Global Football Innovation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even getting to three goals against the Heat will be a\u00a0struggle for Houston FC. Like last year when it won the Lone Star Division title, Laredo boasts the division’s best defense. The Heat have allowed just one goal this season. Only Lonestar SC has matched that, but its only played one game. Laredo has also netted seven goals in two games, which is second in the division.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“We have been the best defensive team. Hopefully we can continue that,” Ibarra said. “And we’re one of the best offensive team as well.<\/p>\n
“At the end of the day, everything is on us and the things we’re going to try to do.”<\/p>\n
Perhaps the biggest test of the season will come in the second game of the road trip against AHFC. AHFC has outscored its three opponents 10-2, including a 6-1 thrashing of the Twin City Toucans in its most recent game. Prior to that, AHFC beat Hill Country 3-0 and tied Houston FC 1-1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ibarra feels like AHFC will be the Heat’s hardest competition this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“They’re always a good test,” he said. “They’ve been one of the hardest opponents in the division. They’re going to be contenders. The team is going to be ready and prepared. Hopefully we can get another three points.<\/p>\n
“It’ll be one of the hardest games in the division, but we’re prepared for anything. I’m more worried about my team than other teams. If we play the way we normally play, we shouldn’t have any problems.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The undefeated and defending division champion Laredo Heat SC (2-0) will be put to the test this week.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[87644,56,58,57],"class_list":["post-310832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-aud4h","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}