TIJUANA– As the sun set behind Estadio Caliente, a massive shadow blanketed Tijuana's soccer stadium on Saturday night.
Darkness neared as Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles and Pachuca were in their respective locker rooms at halftime of a Mexican Apertura tournament soccer match.
While both teams prepared to return to the field to finish the Week 13 match-up, Xolos owner and former mayor of Tijuana, Hank Rohn, was the center of a makeshift ceremony.
Rohn pulled down a prop representing a giant lever that switched on the newly installed lights in the stadium.
The Xolos could now play at any time. No more rare kickoff times in the hot sun on artificial turf. Tijuana can now play on prime time against prime-time teams.
And on Saturday night, the Xolos lived up to the hype against one of Mexico's top clubs. Tijuana looked like a First Division team in a 3-2 win against Pachuca in front of a sold-out crowd.
The Xolos (2-5-6, 12 points) found the net enough times and had enough to close out a match with its first home win in seven tries as members of the Mexican Primera División, Mexico's top tier league.
Juan Pablo Santiago sent in the game winner in the 69th minute, his second of the night. He also scored four minutes into the second half to give the Xolos a 2-1 lead. Both of Santiago's scores came via headers, both off corner kicks. The first came from Leandro Augusto and the second from Raul Enriquez.
Santiago, who perhaps would have not started if the Xolos were not missing three regular starters, out jumped defenders to send his header on the decisive goal from just outside the 6-yard box.
His first goal came in similar fashion.
Santiago beat Pachuca defender Javier Muñoz to Leandro's floating pass into the penalty area, sending it past Pachuca goalkeeper Carlos Velazquez. Santiago got enough of the ball to send it bouncing into the net.
It was Tijuana's first goal under the lights. And it was the goal that was supposed to energize a struggling team to break out of an eight-game losing streak.
Tijuana was missing Fernando Arce and Javier Gandolfi (both yellow card suspensions), and striker Dayro Moreno (personal reasons). That enabled Santiago to start.
The hype from Santiago's goal didn't last long.
Pachuca (6-5-2, 20 points) tied the match at 2-2 in the 63rd minute on a right-footed blast from Elias Hernández that zoomed past Xolos goalkeeper Cirilo Saucedo, who returned to the starting line-up after sitting out during a 2-2 draw against Atlas last week with an injured shoulder.
The play quieted the crowd. It remained quiet for only five minutes until Santiago's second goal.
The play will go down in the club's history as the first under what is becoming a legitimate soccer stadium. The play could also be a testament to what the Xolos are trying to build.
The team that was promoted to the Primera División in May has struggled to score goals despite being the better team at times against a handful of opponents this season. Saturday's total equaled its season high. The Xolos beat Santos Laguna 3-1 earlier this year.
They have been near the bottom of the league standings for most of the tournament, with 12 points, only ahead of lowly Atlas.
Tijuana is flirting with relegation to the second division with four games left in the Apertura tournament and 17 more in the Clausura that begins next spring.
But under the lights, the Xolos appeared to be a bit different despite using their typical brand of fluid and aggressive soccer to attack "Los Tuzos."
The tactic paid off this time as Tijuana was able to hold on to the lead and earn its second win of the tournament, its first with newly hired coach Antonio Mohamed.
Mohamed, who replaced the fired Joaquin del Olmo last month, remains optimistic that his team could finish the season strong.
He's already looking past this match.
"This game is history," Mohamed said. "The team remained calm and we were able to reach the objective at home. But this win doesn't accomplish anything. We are fooling ourselves if we think we have accomplished something."
Things didn't start the way the Xolos wanted. They have made costly mistakes all season long, and it appeared the match against Pachuca would be headed in the same direction.
The Xolos began with a mistake in the 22nd minute.
Defender Joshua Abrego sent in the ball into his own net. Abrego intercepted a centered pass by Pachuca's Mauro Cejas from left to right. Abrego kept the ball from reaching a Pachuca attacker at the mouth of the goal. Abrego wishes he hadn't. Instead, he poked the ball past his own goalkeeper Saucedo while sliding towards the goal line.
"That is soccer," Abrego said about the play. "It's just one of those unfortunate moments. I was trying to clear the ball out and I just didn't get it done. I kept a positive attitude and forgot about it."
Tijuana forgot about the play after Enriquez tied the match 1-1 in the 43rd minute with a right-footed shot from about 20-yards out. It came off a free kick. It zoomed past Velazquez, Pachuca's goalkeeper, into the upper-left corner of the net.
Enriquez' score sent the crowd into a frenzy, but perhaps it didn't cause the same emotion as Santiago's second score of the night.
The fans chanted as the time was expiring.
"Olé, Olé, Olé! Xo-los, Xo-los!"
They stood waiting for the final whistle only to send cups of beer flying into the sky, a darkened sky pierced by the new stadium lights.
ivan.orozco@sandiegored.com
