Do or die time for the Laredo Heat

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A year after going undefeated in the regular season and earning the No. 1 seed in the National Premier Soccer League playoffs, the Laredo Heat’s postseason hopes are hanging by a thread.

Only the top four teams in each division make the playoffs in the NPSL. After last week’s tie against Fort Worth, the Heat (4-4-2) are fourth in the Lone Star Conference with 14 points. If Laredo wants to make the playoffs, it will need to sweep its two-game road trip this weekend. If the Heat don’t, Dallas City FC has the potential to leapfrog them in the standings as it trails by one point in the division with three matches left.

“We just need to continue to clean up everything,” Heat forward Ivan Sakou said. “We have made some mistakes offensively and defensively this year that have cost us some games. As long as we play our game, we should be good.”

Laredo opens its road trip at 7:30 p.m. Thursday against the Midland-Odessa Sockers FC (7-1-2) and closes the regular season at 7:30 Saturday at Dallas City (4-4-1). And if the Heat want their season finale to mean something, they will have to beat a Midland-Odessa team that defeated them handily last time around.

Earlier this season, Midland-Odessa dominated Laredo 4-0 at Dustdevil Field. Not only that, but the Sockers scored three of their goals within the first 30 minutes of play.

“I believe that was our worst performance of the year because we allowed three goals quickly,” Sakou said. “We didn’t expect that obviously. That took us by surprise. We think we could have handled that better. Now it’s time to show that to take back that defeat.”

Yet that result was early in the year. Since then, the Heat have added some new faces such as Roberto Avila, Steven Carias and Julian Gaines. Players who can potentially help Laredo get revenge Thursday.

The Laredo Heat are set to open the 2020 season on May 15 against Fort Worth at home. The Laredo Heat are set to open the 2020 season on May 15 against Fort Worth at home. Photo: Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times File Photo: Danny Zaragoza /Laredo Morning Times File Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Do or die time for the Laredo Heat 1 / 3 Back to Gallery

“The guys who have come in have helped us a lot,” Sakou said. “Beto last game and Julian have both helped us a lot. We have improved this squad by a lot since the last time we played (Midland-Odessa). The group is coming together. I’m excited for the game.”

Entering the matchup, the Sockers were No. 16 out of 98 teams in the NPSL’s latest power rankings according to the league’s website.

Laredo also fell to Dallas City earlier this season, 1-0. After that loss, the Heat were disappointed as they felt they should have came away with three points instead of none.

Dallas City enters the contest against the Heat with wins in three straight matches. It was still playing Fort Worth at press time Wednesday. Dallas City was No. 45 in the league’s latest power rankings, two above Laredo which was at No. 47.

Despite suffering early losses to Midland-Odessa and Dallas City, the Heat are confident they can come away with six points this week to keep their playoff hopes alive. And they believe that because the team knows it can do so.

“We just have to come out with the same spirit we came out with on Saturday against Fort Worth,” Heat midfielder Jeremiah Egujie said. “I think we should be fine as long as we don’t get our heads down.

“We just need to come with energy this time around. Last time we played (Midland-Odessa) we didn’t have energy. Just energy and a good attitude.”

gkroeger@lmtonline.com

Twitter: @gkroegs