By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
Port Isabel’s boys and girls soccer teams captured decisive District 31-4A victories on Friday.
The Tarpons, playing at home, broke open a close soccer match midway through the second half Friday to pull away from the Brownsville IDEA Frontier Chargers 5-1, while the Lady Tarpons triumphed 6-0 over the Lady Chargers at Brownsville Sports Park.
The win keeps the Tarpons unbeaten in district at 2-0 and sets up an early 31-4A showdown in Port Isabel at 6 p.m. Monday against Rio Hondo.
The Tarpons led 1-0 at halftime against the Chargers (0-2) and were up 2-1 before adding three goals in the final 20 minutes to secure the victory.
“We had a few issues in the first half and I thought we started off a little bit slow,” Tarpons coach Crespin Gonzalez said. “Our guys got focused in the second half and they were playing better. They were passing the ball and attacking (the goal) a lot better.
“Overall, we finished off the game on a good note,” Gonzalez added. “That’s what we need to do because we’ve got a big game against Rio Hondo coming up Monday. Rio Hondo went into its game Friday at 2-0, so it’s going to be an important matchup.
“I think we have a team that can defend against Rio Hondo’s (potent) offense that won its first two district games 9-1 (against Raymondville) and 8-1 (against IDEA Frontier).”
Port Isabel’s Angel Sarabia scored from the left side barely five minutes into Friday’s contest for a 1-0 advantage. However, the Tarpons were called for offsides on the attack a number of times and had to settle for just a one-goal lead at intermission.
But that all changed in the second half as Jair Prieto scored twice, Saul Bernal once and Johnathan Rivera once to give the Tarpons their decisive win.
During the 49th minute, Prieto dribbled in and beat the Chargers goalkeeper in a one-on-one matchup to give the Tarpons a two-goal edge.
Trailing 2-0, Evan Davila scored for the Chargers on a crossing shot from the right side to bring his team to within 2-1 with 23 minutes remaining, but IDEA Frontier came no closer as the Tarpons pulled away with goals during the 60th, 63rd and 64th minutes.
It became 3-1 in the 60th minute when Bernal scored from close range. Rivera put in a corner kick taken from the right side for a 4-1 lead in the 63rd minute, and just a minute later, the Chargers goalkeeper came out, failed to secure the ball and Prieto sent a crossing shot into an open net from the left side to complete the scoring in Port Isabel boys’ 5-1 triumph.
In the girls match, the Lady Tarpons won 6-0 thanks to a pair of goals by Esthela Castillo and one each by Ava Gomez, Celia Polsky, Susana Torres and Shayla Ocha. Polsky’s goal came on a penalty kick.
The Lady Tarpons led 3-0 at halftime and are now 2-1 in district.