Twice Tuesday evening, the Lamar girls soccer team tried to run the play that eventually earned it a first-round playoff victory.

The Redskins drew a foul the first time.

The second time was the charm, snapping nearly 68 minutes of soccer and sending the Redskins to the area round.

Brittany Nelson fed Claudia Martinez with an almost-perfect pass and Martinez converted from in front of the net with 12:19 left, clinching Lamar’s 1-0 victory in a 5A bi-district game at Delmar Stadium.

Nelson knocked the ball through the defense and found a sprinting Martinez in the center of the field. Everyone was in the same position as they were the first time – but this time, the senior midfielder finished.

“We just try to get crosses through, which is our strength when we score, and we got it in and I scored,” Martinez said. “We’re better when the ball’s at our feet than when it’s in the air and we were able to score.”

Lamar (18-2-2) will play Cypress Woods or Morton Ranch in an area game later this week. The site and time will be determined Wednesday.

Both defenses sparkled Tuesday, but a large part of their success was due to each teams’ offensive woes.

The Redskins had two shots hit the crossbar – one early in the first half, and another when A.J. Lowe found it with 32 minutes left.

With exactly 20 minutes remaining, Lamar’s Veronica Larin wrestled open for a point-blank look but shot wide left.

“After the first half our goal was to possess the ball more. We’re a better team with the ball at our feet,” Lamar coach Alyson Ankrom said. “Then I think we settled down more and had a couple opportunities because we were able to put the ball at our feet. We had a couple opportunities – hit the crossbar a couple times and found the post once – but we just need to learn how to capitalize.

“Thankfully one (of the Redskins’ shots) found the back of the net.”

Aldine finished 11-10. The Mustangs were 9-5 in District 19-5A; four of those district losses were to undefeated co-champions Memorial and Stratford. Those teams tied each other twice.

Lamar went 15-1-2 in District 20-5A. Its only loss was to rival Bellaire; the Redskins avenged that late in the season and tied Westside twice.

“Defensively we did what we needed to do (and that was) attack a lot,” Ankrom said. “We just didn’t quite finish the opportunities we had in front of us. Our biggest challenge was finding the back of the net.”

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