By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
If ever there was a time during the District 32-6A soccer season when the Brownsville Rivera Raiders might be caught a little vulnerable, it was probably Friday.
The Raiders were coming off Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat at Los Fresnos in which they lost one of their best players, Julian Espinoza, to injury and surrendered first place in 32-6A to the Falcons. Espinoza is expected to be out six weeks.
How would the Raiders respond Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium against Harlingen South, a team that had won its last three matches and is right in the thick of the playoff race as well?
Rivera scored a goal during each half and Raiders goalkeeper Jorge Cordova came up with a least three standout saves to highlight a 2-0 victory against the Hawks.
“This was the first game to play without Julian, and there was a question mark in the coaches’ minds, wondering how the players were going to react,” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “Even though we’ve been saying it for the longest time that Rivera doesn’t depend on just one player, Julian is a big part of the team, so it was a concern.
“Our guys really played with a lot of heart tonight and a lot of desire to prove a point (that they are still a good team),” Garcia added. “They got some confidence (from this victory), and confidence is something we need. We go against Hanna on Tuesday, and that’s going to be a tough game as well.”
Los Fresnos, a 4-1 winner against Weslaco High on Friday, closed out the first round of district at 6-1 with 19 points, while Rivera is second at 6-1 with 18 points.
Hanna, a 2-1 winner at Weslaco East on Friday, holds down third place at 6-1 with 17 points and South is fourth at 4-2 with 12 points.
“It was a great game,” South coach Julian Robles said. “Rivera is a tough opponent in the district. It came down to mistakes and who would take advantage of them. They did and we didn’t.
“I am proud of our boys,” Robles added. “They played hard. We still have the second round of district to play and we are looking forward to it.”
Scoring the Raiders’ goals were Alex Mendez in the 25th minute and Adrian Mireles in the 52nd minute.
On the play that resulted in Mendez’s goal, the ball came into the goalmouth on a long free kick taken from the left side of the field. The ball was deflected out and came right to Mendez, who immediately kicked it into the net from about 15 yards away. With 15 minutes left in the opening half, Rivera led 1-0.
It became 2-0 for the Raiders just 12 minutes into the second half when Mireles sent a crossing shot into the right corner of the goal from the left side approximately 18 yards out.
“Tonight we came out with a chip on our shoulder knowing that we didn’t have one of our (top) attacking center midfielders (Espinoza),” said Jorge Morales, a sophomore defensive midfielder for the Raiders. “We knew that God was putting a test to us (to see how we would respond). I think we showed how strong we are and that we’re a pretty good team.”
While Rivera plays Hanna on Tuesday at Sams as the second half of 32-6A action begins, the Hawks will go against Harlingen High the same night at Boggus Stadium in the Bird Bowl.