By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The showdown for the District 32-6A championship in boys soccer is officially set.
Tuesday’s potential 5:30 p.m. winner-take-all matchup between the Lopez Lobos and Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers became a reality when Lopez defeated Harlingen High 5-0 Saturday at Brownsville Sports Park.
Brownsville Veterans did its part by rallying to prevail against Los Fresnos 2-1 Friday at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
The Chargers and Lobos are each 11-2 with 34 points in the district with their Tuesday showdown being both clubs’ final 32-6A match of the season.
Lobos coach Amadeo Escandon was pleased with his team’s performance Saturday against the Cardinals (0-13, no points).
“We had a good game,” he said. “We worked on communication and (defensively) covering up open spaces on the field.
“Brownsville Veterans is obviously a very good team because they beat us (2-0 on Feb. 16) in the first round of district,” he added. “We think we can play with them. Everybody is excited and looking forward to the game, including the coaches, the players and the community. It should be a game geared toward (entertaining) the spectators.”
Against Harlingen High, the Lobos built a 3-0 first-half lead on an own-goal and a pair of tallies by Jose Echevarria. Lopez sealed the victory with second-half goals by Benito Cazares and German Vera.
Meanwhile, the Lady Lobos kept alive their chances for the district title by rallying to defeat the Lady Cardinals 2-1 in overtime during the second match of the boys-girls doubleheader.
The first half went scoreless, and the game remained that way until the Lady Cardinals went ahead 1-0. Later, Samantha Ruiz’s late second-half goal evened the score for Lopez. From there, neither team could find the net until Carla Gracia provided the game-winner for Lopez during the second half of OT.
The Lady Lobos (10-3, 29 points) now are just one point behind district leader Los Fresnos (10-3, 30 points) going into Tuesday’s final day of 32-6A competition. Just like its boys squad, Lopez plays at Brownsville Veterans (9-4, 27 points) on Tuesday. The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Los Fresnos plays at Hanna (7-6, 21 points) at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.