Soccer: Conroe earns initial district victory

CONROE, Texas – You can’t win the second one without winning the first one.

That’s a rally cry often used by coaches and players at all levels. But there is truth to the old saying and the Conroe High School boys’ soccer team learned its significance on Friday.

The Tigers (9-4-7, 1-4-5) broke a 1-1 tie with three second-half goals to defeat Oak Ridge 4-1 at Buddy Moorhead Stadium. It was their first District 14-5A triumph of the season after five “near-miss” ties.

What it did was vault the Tigers from the bottom of the heap into fifth place in the league standings, and back into the playoff chase. Conroe (8 points) is just four points behind fourth-place Lufkin (3-3-3, 12 points), which rallied on Friday for three goals in the final seven minutes of its match with Bryan to force a 4-4 tie.

Emy Orioha rallied Conroe on Friday with three goals and Roberto Velasquez added another.

Oak Ridge slips to 2-6-1 in district play.

The Woodlands (7-1-1) continues to lead the league, followed in order by A&M Consolidated (6-3-1) and Bryan (5-3-2).