By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Perhaps it’s time.
Considering their geographical proximity and the fact they’re now in the same district, maybe it’s time for athletic competitions between Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Pace to have a name defining their emerging rivalry.
On the other side of the city, Porter and Lopez have the “Battle of Southmost” as a unique description for their matchups in all sports. So why not give a name to the same athletic matchups between the Vikings and Chargers — something like the “West End Rivalry” or “Battle of Military Highway.”
There are obviously some better candidates out there that would enable the two schools to make the athletic competition against one another in all sports definitive as well.
Regardless of what their emerging rivalry may be called, the boys and girls soccer teams of Pace and Brownsville Veterans played District 32-5A openers Tuesday at Pace.
It was a good night for Brownsville Veterans as the Lady Chargers won 1-0 and the Chargers rallied to triumph 2-1.
The boys match featured late-game drama befitting an intracity rivalry. Pace went ahead 1-0 on Maximiliano Rivas’ goal midway through the second half, but the Chargers didn’t let up.
A goal by Brownsville Veterans’ Ramon Perez with nine minutes left tied the match at 1. Aldo LeKash then came up big for the Chargers by scoring into the upper left corner of the net from about 17 yards out with just 23 seconds remaining to make it 2-1. The ball had been put into play on a corner kick by the Chargers before it was deflected out to LeKash, who drilled it home.
“The thing I liked most about our guys was they always thought they could win the game, even when we were behind,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “It was great that they could accomplished what they wanted to do. It’s always great to start off (district) with a win.
“When we’re down in the score, these guys kept fighting and never gave up,” Vasquez added. “We weren’t there (just) to tie the game. We wanted the win and the three points. We put a lot of pressure on Pace during the last two minutes with two throw-ins into the box and a corner kick into the box. The ball bounced our way, you could say.”
The earlier girls match didn’t lack for intensity, either.
The difference was a goal by the Lady Chargers’ Arely Guzman midway through the second half. Sam Bodden assisted on the play.
“It’s big to start off district with a win, especially against a Brownsville team,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “Pace has a very good team and it was a hard-fought game.
“I would say our girls take from this game the motivation to just keep trying hard, working hard and to keep looking for those victories,” Troncoso added. “That’s the motivation factor (you get with a win).”
Both Troncoso and Vasquez believe the Brownsville Veterans-Pace rivalry is worthy of a suitable nickname.
“How about the ‘Military Highway Clasico,’?” Vasquez suggested.
UP NEXT
While 32-5A boys and girls opened district play Tuesday, District 32-6A starts Friday with varsity matches at 7 p.m.
One of the top games of the night finds Rivera’s boys at Hanna. The Rivera girls play host to Hanna at the Rivera campus.
Rivera is scheduled to play its home games at Sams Memorial Stadium this season, although for Friday’s match, the Lady Golden Eagles and Lady Raiders are set to play at Rivera.
Also in 32-6A, Los Fresnos’ boys are at home against San Benito at 7 p.m. Friday, while the Los Fresnos girls play at San Benito. The same night there will be 32-6A boys and girls matches between the two Harlingen schools and the two Weslaco schools.
LOOKING AHEAD
A doubleheader to look forward to next week on Feb. 3 will find the Lopez girls and boys playing at Brownsville Veterans in 32-5A competition at 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., respectively.