By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
History repeating itself wasn’t such a bad thing Friday for the Pace Lady Vikings in District 32-5A soccer.
Pretty much just like the first round of district when Pace played at Donna High on Jan. 29, once again the Lady Vikings erupted for multiple goals during the second half after it was scoreless at intermission to defeat the Bravettes 4-0 in Friday’s second-round rematch at Pace.
On Jan. 29 in Donna, the Lady Vikings and Bravettes also were scoreless at halftime and Pace came alive to triumph 3-0.
“It actually felt good (to score) considering the fact that I’m hurt and we really needed those goals,” said Pace’s Kryssie Rivera, a sophomore forward who sparked her team with a pair of goals Friday. “I’d like to thank my team for helping me score them.
“We’re actually excited about making the playoffs again,” Rivera added. “Our plan is to go farther than the first round (after we were eliminated in bi-district by Sharyland High last season).”
The victory keeps Pace (7-2, 20 points) at least in a tie for second place with Porter in 32-5A. Pace and Porter entered Friday’s action three points behind 32-5A leader PSJA Southwest, which played at home against PSJA High. Porter (6-3, 20 points) won 4-1 at Edcouch-Elsa on Friday.
Also scoring for Pace during the second half Friday were Litzy Aleman and Leslie Amador.
“We’re taking it step by step, and this is three more points (with a win) for us,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “We’re going to go all the way (through our schedule) respecting every team, going step by step and not doing anything differently so we can make it to the playoffs at the end (of 32-5A competition).
“It was a very balanced game tonight,” he added. “It was basically a fight in the midfield, so we put an extra midfielder there and had five of them. It gave us a little bit more (push) on the sides, and that’s basically where our goals (were set up and) came from. Donna gave us a tough, balanced game in the first round, and they did again tonight.”