BY JON R. LaFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — The McAllen High Lady Bulldogs were eliminated from the postseason following a 2-0 loss to the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons on Tuesday during a Class 6A regional quarterfinal match at Bobby Lackey Stadium. The match’s outcome was never in doubt as Lady Falcons controlled the tempo from start to finish, dominating the ball and routinely invading the Lady Bulldog’s half of the field.
“It was one of those games where we just didn’t’ come to play,” McHi coach Patrick Arney said. “We can play a lot better than that. It’s tough to lose anytime, but I think we still have something in the tank. But credit to Los Fresnos. They did a good job. Both of those goals were gimmes. It was frustrating. It’s never fun to lose. We’re not used to it at McHi.”
Los Fresnos’ first goal occurred with eight minutes remaining in the first half. An attempted goal by sophomore forward Tanya Prazelini from the far left side of the field drew McHi keeper Ruby Iracheta out of the box. Prazelini and Iracheta collided but not before Prazelini kicked the ball towards an open goal where junior midfielder Veronica Bratschi bumped the ball into the net with her chest from three yards out.
“That first goal was a bit of a miscommunication,” Arney said. “Maybe the goalie comes out when she shouldn’t have. She’s a solid goalie. She had plenty of saves tonight, it was just silly mistakes.”
Though Los Fresnos scored, they lost Prazelini for the remainder of the game due to an unspecified injury.
Despite the trailing 1-0 at the half, Arney stayed positive and attempted to rally his team. Arney said he told the Lady Bulldogs the game “would come down to who wants it more.”
The Lady Falcons scored once more, however, with 32:02 remaining in the second half, albeit in less violent fashion. Angled from the right side of the net, senior forward Cristen Lumbreras kicked what looked like a sure save from 10 yards out. That was before the ball ricocheted off McHi’s Shaney Warren’s left foot and crawled into the net as Iracheta was helpless to chase it down.
“That second goal really took the wind out of our sails,” Arney said. “Defensively, they really did a good job on us. I was hoping we could catch a break or doing something offensively, but I think we did a little too much individually instead of playing like a team.”
After missing the postseason a year ago, the win propels the Lady Falcons to the regional finals where they will play Corpus Christi Carroll on Friday at Brownsville Sports Park in Brownsville.
“We’ve been trying to get these girls ready,” Los Fresnos coach Marissa Wood said. “The further you go (in the playoffs), the more talented the teams become. So we tried to play to our standard of play and that showed tonight. We were able to find each other and play with heart, and that’s what got us both of our goals.”
Though Tuesday didn’t provide the outcome the Lady Bulldogs desires, Arney remains optimistic about the team’s future.
“We didn’t play as smart as we should have played,” Arney said. “We can certainly play better, but we’ve got a lot of returning players and we’re looking forward to next year.”
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