NATHANIEL MATA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
LA JOYA — In the second meeting between District 30-6A frontrunners, La Juarez-Lincoln earned a 2-1 win over Mission High.
Both teams had already separated themselves from the rest of the district, and on Friday the Huskies put themselves in the driver’s seat to win a district championship.
Huskies forward Manuel Castrejon got Juarez-Lincoln off to a hot start with a goal just under three minutes into the game. The centering cross from junior Victor Hernandez evaded a crowd and found Castrejon in position to send it home.
“They gave it their all, because we haven’t won district in a while,” Castrejon said. “It’s been two years, and they wanted it bad.”
The Huskies defense did a solid job of limiting any opportunities for the Eagles to create pressure in the first half, keeping Mission from connecting on long passes.
The first half ended relatively quietly, aside from a scoring opportunity from Juarez-Lincoln’s Jonathan Hernandez. Eagles goaltender Gabriel Castillo made a sprawling save to keep the deficit at one.
The save turned out to be an important one, as Mission came out of halftime with much more dangerous chances.
Sophomore Huskies goaltender Christopher Banda was his team’s best player in the second half. He made a slew of saves to preserve the 1-0 score. On multiple occasions, he dove to keep the ball out.
Only three minutes into the second half, Mission’s Juan Cortez was in alone, but Banda stopped him.
The match was chippy, with no shortage of fouls and disagreement. Mission had an assistant coach ejected for arguing with officials during the second half.
The second half continued to be controlled by Mission’s offense. The Eagles finally got on the scoreboard approaching 12 minutes remaining in the contest.
A ball misplayed by Banda and several defenders bounced to the foot of Mission’s Nicholas Diaz. He made no mistake, burying the ball into the empty net.
The joy from the equalizer was short-lived. Less than two minutes later, with 10:47 to play, a mistake by Mission’s goalie cost the Eagles.
Castrejon out-jumped the keeper and headed the ball in for what stood as the game-winner.
The junior said Friday was a glimpse of what is to come in the postseason.
“I like these intense games to prepare us for playoffs,” Castrejon said. “Because playoffs is very tough if you lose. If you make a mistake, you’re out. This was just a game of preparation.” His coach explained that mistakes and their consequences are a part of the game.
“It was the way it was supposed to be,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Victor Ramos said. “If you make a mistake, you’re going to pay for it against very good teams. It seems like it happened within a few minutes both ways, so we’re happy the way it happened”
Mission High endured a hard loss, but coach Christos Barouhas felt his team was the better team. Mistakes just cost them in the wrong time.
The Eagles will have ground to make up if they hope to leap over the Huskies, who are now four points ahead in the standings.
Although considered a home game for Mission High, Friday’s game was played at La Joya ISD Stadium. Mission High is playing all of its games on the road this season as Tom Landry Stadium undergoes renovation.