JOHN JOE RIVERA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR
MISSION — The La Feria Lions continued their historic postseason run by defeating the Grulla Gators 2-1 in a Class 4A Region IV regional quarterfinals soccer match on Tuesday night at Richard Thompson Stadium.
The Gators started the match as the aggressors offensively, firing shot after shot at the goal with senior forward Freddy Gonzalez finally breaking through for the first score of the night at the 28-minute mark of the first half.
“We had confidence defensively on the play,” Gonzalez said as he recalled the scoring sequence. “There was an error on their throw-in, which resulted in the ball ending up in their goal.”
Gonzalez was a handful for the Lions defenders as he zigged and zagged with the ball, setting up his teammates for shots when not firing his own.
Toward the end of the first half, something clicked for La Feria as it turned the tables and became more aggressive with shots at the goal.
“I told them (the team), ‘Do you want to stop? Is this where you want to stop making history?” Lions’ coach Sergio Rodriguez said. “I told them ‘You need to come out and be aggressive and fight to the end.’”
With 3 minutes left until intermission, La Feria’s Javier Torres managed to tie the score 1-1 with a powerful shot from about 18 yards out that soared past a defender and the Gators goalie before hitting the net.
In the second half, Gators forward Jesus Alaffa juked the Lions defenders and faked the goalie out of his cleats for a wide-open shot opportunity to take the lead, but the ball sailed wide right.
At the 16-minute mark, with the score still tied 1-1, La Feria’s Eduardo Turrubiates scored the go-ahead goal amid a chaotic sequence.
Turrubiates was camped out near the Grulla goalie and attempted a shot on goal but was denied by the Grulla defender. The ball bounced around between the defender, Turrubiates and the Gators goalie before crossing the goal line for what would ultimately prove to be the game-winner.
“I was trying the whole night to score,” Turrubiates said. “Coach told us to keep attacking and never give up.”
The Gators’ picked up the intensity in the final two minutes of the half, trying desperately to send the match to overtime. Grulla’s Pedro Camarillo had an opportunity to score with 1:20 left in regulation, but the Lions goalie stuffed the shot to seal the win.
Despite not reaching their ultimate goal of winning a state title, Grulla’s first-year coach Richard VanNest was pleased with his team’s success this season.
“Our guys fought hard, being my first year as a head coach, it’s been an awesome ride,” VanNest said. “Nothing to be ashamed of. We won district. We won bi-district. We won area. But no doubt, we will be back. We will be back.”
La Feria advances to the Class 4A Region IV Regional Semifinals to face the Bandera Bulldogs at 2 p.m. on Friday at McAllen’s Veterans Memorial Stadium.