By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
The Hanna boys and girls soccer teams captured their first District 32-6A wins of the season Tuesday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Both Hanna squads are now 1-1 in district with four points apiece.
Going against Weslaco High, each of the Hanna teams had to overcome a 1-0 deficit before winning. In Tuesday’s 32-6A doubleheader, the Hanna boys triumphed 4-1 before the Hanna girls pulled out a 2-1 victory in the nightcap.
For the Hanna boys, who were coming off a 3-2 loss to Rivera on penalty kicks last Friday in their 32-6A opener, Tuesday’s 4-1 triumph felt pretty good.
“It’s good, it’s nice and it’s something we’ve been working for,” Hanna boys coach Reyes Prado said of the victory. “We’re lucky we came out with three points (for the win) tonight.
“(Coming back from an early 1-0 deficit) shows that we have good character on our team,” Prado added. “It’s good when you can come back. We were down by a goal against Rivera, too, and we came back (to send the match to PKs and eventually earn one point).
“It shows the resilience of our guys and that they want to win. They’ve been working hard to achieve goals like this. Little by little, we’ll get into a rhythm, I guess.”
Things didn’t start off very well for the Eagles.
Just two minutes into the match, the Eagles didn’t clear the ball properly and Weslaco High’s Eduardo Palacios made them pay. His close-range goal made it 1-0 for the Panthers.
But the Hanna players soon settled down and offensive opportunities started coming their way.
In the 17th minute, a shot by Hanna’s Adrian Rodriguez bounced off a Weslaco High defender and came right back to him. Rodriguez didn’t miss on his second-chance rebound shot and sent the ball on a low trajectory into the left corner of the goal to tie the score at 1-1.
The Eagles controlled the second half as Jose Pompa scored goals during the 63rd and 75th minutes while teammate Daniel Rivera added a tally during the 66th minute.
“It’s going to be a good district race the whole way,” Prado said. “It’s going to go right down to the end. As far as places in the playoffs are concerned, who knows? That’s the kind of race it’s going to be.”
The Hanna girls trailed 1-0 when the Lady Panthers sent a high ball toward the left post that the Lady Eagles’ goalkeeper couldn’t handle with nine and a half minutes left before intermission. It went into the net and Weslaco High’s one-goal advantage lasted until the 56th minute. That’s when Hanna’s Sytlaly Loyde drilled a 40-plus-yard free kick into the goal to give her team an impressive equalizer.
Then in the 64th minute, a Hanna corner kick taken from the left side by Loyde was put in from about five yards out by teammate Linda Zacharias, giving the Lady Eagles a 2-1 edge they didn’t relinquish.
“It was a great goal by Sytlaly, our captain,” said Lady Eagles coach Eliseo Guzman, whose team was coming off last Friday’s 2-1 penalty-kicks setback against Rivera. “We knew we were playing better than our opponent since the first half, and I told our girls we just needed to score the goals.
“I think our girls did pretty awesome,” he added. “They all were thinking about winning, and thanks to God, it came out our way.”
Hanna’s boys and girls continue 32-6A action at Harlingen South on Friday. Weslaco High’s teams play host to Harlingen High the same night.