Xolos U20 Advance to Face Queretaro FC in Championship Final
Club Tijuana’s Under-20 side defeated Club Santos Laguna on Saturday night in the second leg of the semifinals at Estadio Caliente. The Xolos side will now face Queretaro FC in a two leg Championship series that will include one match played at Estadio Corregidora in Queretaro and the second match being held in Tijuana.
Soccer News: Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles Under-20 is in the championship final. The Xoloitzcuintles youth squad advances after beating visiting Club Santos Laguna 2-1 in the second leg of the semifinals Saturday night at Estadio Caliente.
Christian Torres scored in injury time to send the Xoloitzcuintles to its second-straight title series. Club Tijuana wins the home-and-home series thanks to a tiebreaker after a 3-3 aggregate in the series. The Xoloitzcuintles finished as the No. 4 team in the regular season standings, better than Santos, earning the tiebreaker.
What appeared to be heading into a 1-1 tie Saturday night and a 3-2 aggregate win by Santos quickly changed when Torres found the net late in the match. Santos beat Club Tijuana 2-1 in the first leg Wednesday in Torreon.
Torres fired a right-footed shot from inside the penalty box, burying it in the back of the net. The goal gave coach Raul Chabrand’s team life and a chance to play for a title next week against Queretaro FC.
Santos took a 1-0 lead in the 11th minute of Saturday night’s match with a goal by Mario Rodriguez, beating Club Tijuana goalkeeper Carlos Lopez. Santos led 3-1 in the aggregate. But Club Tijuana didn’t sit back. Chabrand sent his lines looking to pressure Santos. The move paid off.
The Xoloitzcuintles got a goal by Angel Uribe in the 53rd minute to tie the match 1-1. The aggregate was then 2-1 Santos.
That’s when a relentless Club Tijuana continued to pressure Santos until the final moments of the match, looking for the goal that would tie the aggregate. Brandon Vazquez tried with a header over the crossbar in the 78th minute. Then there was Luis Chavez who blasted a couple of free kicks just over the crossbar in the 80th and 81st minute respectively.
Club Tijuana will now await dates and times for the championship final that will be a home-and-home series with the first leg in Queretaro and the second leg in Tijuana.
Source/Photo Credit: Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles
