Santos prides itself on being a team that embodies Torreón. A team and a city that uses what it has and never gives up. It’s fitting then that it was a player that had come up through the Academy to score a goal in the dying moments of the match, as former U15, U17, and U20 standout Jordan Carrillo equalized in the fifth minute of stoppage to get a dramatic 1-1 tie for Santos.
Santos had the first good chance on goal in the eighth minute when a nice build up play lead to a shot on goal, but it wasn’t hit well and Washington Aguerre made the stop. At the other end, Carlos Acevedo made a nice diving stop on a shot in the box from José Angulo in the 11th minute. Brian Lozano had a go from distance inthe 14th minute, but “Huevo”’s shot went high and wide. Harold Preciado had a crack from discance in the 22nd minute, but Aguerre did well to parry it. Santos was patient with the ball, willing to move the ball around to try and find a good shot, but unfortunately the shot selection often wasn’t very good. Still, Querétaro looked out of ideas on the offensive side of the ball.
In the 37th, Aguerre came out of his box to try and clear a ball but it didn’t go very far. Fernando Gorriarán had a good look from distance but his shot went wide. In the 38th a hard foul on Roni Prieto by Ángel Sepúlveda lead to a minor scuffle after Huevo Lozano and Raúl Torrés went nose-to-nose jawing at one another, earning each a yellow card. Precoado had a look in the 44th minute but it went straight into the gut of Aguerre. IN the first minute of stoppage Querétaro had an opportunity when a corner kick lingered in the box, but despite the best efforts of Kevin Balanta it was cleared out. Santos was having a difficult time keeping the ball out of their own end, and were perhaps a bit relieved when the halftime whistle blew.
Santos started the second half with the better of the possession, but Querétaro had their chances. In the 61st minute José Angulo got a break ,forcing Matheus Dória to try a sliding tackle. He misse,d but forced the angle so that Carlos Acevedo had to make a diving stop. The rebound went out of the area but was eventually brought back in and the resulting shot was also saved by Acevedo. Then at the other end Eduardo “Mudo” aguirre got a good shot on frame but Aguerre was there tomake the stop. Immediately after that, Querétaro broke down field and it was Ángel Sepúlveda getting a wide open shot, but it went just on the outside of the near post.
Querétaro finally broke through in the 67th minute when Sepúlveda got a ball and shot it. It was blocked by Félix Torres. The rebound went to José Torres, who shot it and it was cleared off of the line by Roni Ptieto, but hit off of Félix Torres and went in.
In the 75th, Santos had a great opportunity when Jordan Carrillo was played in on goal and looked to have a clear shot and took it, but Kevin Escamilla came out of nowhere to slide-tackle the ball off of his foot. Santos had a fantastic opportunity in the 85th when an inexplicable turnover found the foot of Leo Suárez, but he looked as surprised as anyone that he had the ball at his foot, and hit a weak shot right at the goalkeeper. Suárez had a chance to redeem himself in the first minute of stoppage on a free kick, but Aguerre did well to punch it wide.
Just when it looked like Santos had resigned themselves to a loss, Diego Medina made a great run down the right and hit a cross into the box that Jordan Carrillo made a diving header on to salvage a draw for Santos.
Santos heads to Mazatlán for a Tuesday match before returning home to host León on Sunday, April 24th. Querétaro meanwhile hosts Cruz Azul on Thursday, April 21 before heading out to Tijuana to face off against Xolos on Sunday, April 24.
Santos Laguna: Carlos Acevedo; Carlos Orrantia (Diego Medina, 83’), Félix Torres, Matheus Dória, Roni Prieto (David Andrade, 74’); Alan Cervantes (Jordan Carrillo, 56’), Ulíses Rívas; Brian Lozano (Andrés Ávila, 73’), Fernando Gorriarán (Eduardo Aguirre, 55’), Leo Suárez; Harold Preciado
Gallos Blancos de Querétaro: Washington Aguirre; Erik Vera, Kevin Balanta, Maximiliano Perg, Raúl Torrés; Pablo Barrera, Jorge Hernández, Rafael Escamilla (Juan Romagnoli, 79’), Leonardo Sequeira David Cabrera, 90’); Ángel Sepúlveda (Daniel Cervantes, 84’), José Angulo (José Godínez, 85’)
Scoring: Santos Laguna – Jordan Carrillo (90+4’); Gallos Blancos de Querétaro – Félix Torres (autogol – 67’)
Disciplinary: Santos Laguna – Brian Lozano (Yellow – 38’), Roni Prieto (Yellow – 70’), Eduardo Fentanes (Yellow – 80’); Gallos Blancos de Querétaro – Maximilano Perg (Yellow – 19’), Raúl Torres (Yellow – 38’), Leonardo Sequeira (Yellow – 45+2’), Washington Aguerre (Yellow – 76’)
George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism