Match recap: Santos Laguna 2, Lobos BUAP 1

22 year old Mexican goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo made six saves and Brian Lozano and Jonathan Rodríguez scored as Santos came from behind to beat Lobos BUAP 2-1 in Torreón. Bryan Rabello scored the lone goal for Lobos.

Things didn’t start off well for the defending champions. Julio Furch just missed connecting on a header in the fourth minute. In the eighth minute, Bryan Rabello would hit a long range bomb against the team that sent him out on loan, putting the visitors up 1-0.

Minutes later Carlos Acevedo would come up big, with the backup goalkeeper stuffing a Mauro Lainez shot at close range. Santos had a fantastic chance when Brian Lozano hit one off of the post, and Julio Furch had several more near-misses in the first half, but nothing went in.

Santos would get the second half off to a much better start. In the 46th minute, Carlos Orrantia (who had subbed on at the half) raced down the right side of the pitch and hit a cross over to Lozano. Lozano’s volley bounced off of the turf and past goalkeeper Toño Rodríguez to draw the hosts level.

In the 57th minute, Jonathan Rodríguez would get sprung down the left side and hit a shot that beat Toño to the far post to double Santos’ lead.

Lobos would apply pressure,but really never threatened. Acevedo’s afternoon was largely uneventful, however Toño Rodríguez would be called to make a couple more saves. In the 88th, he made a fantastic stop on a rapid succession of shots from Jonathan Rodríguez and Eduardo “Lalo” Herrera to keep his team close.

As the clock approached the 90 minute mark, Diego Jiménez was hauled down just outside of the box. Lobos had a chance to equalize, but Gabriel Cortez’ shot went right into the wall. Three minutes into stoppage, the referee blew his whistle, and the home side would leave with all three points.

Santos heads to Morelia to face Monarcas on Friday night, while Lobos returns to Puebla to host Veracruz on Sunday evening.

Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Jesús Angulo, Hugo Nervo, Gerardo Alcoba, José Abella; Brian Lozano (Cris Martínez, 75’), Oswaldo Martínez, José Juan Vázquez, Javier Cortés (Carlos Orrantia, 46’); Jonathan Rodríguez, Julio Furch (Eduardo Herrera, 70’)

Lobos BUAP: Antonio Rodríguez; Aldo Cruz, Francisco Rodríguez, Michael Orozco, Luis Olascoaga; Jordan Sierra, Abraham González; Mauro Lainez (Omar Tejeda, 62’), Bryan Rabello, Michaell Chirinos (Gabriel Cortez, 82’); Colin Kazim-Richards (Diego Jiménez, 65’)

Scoring: Santos Laguna - Brian Lozano (46’); Lobos BUAP - Bryan Rabello (8’)

Disciplinary: Santos Laguna - José Abella (Yellow - 49’), Brian Lozano (Yellow - 54’); Lobos BUAP - Mauro Lainez (Yellow - 35’)