By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
With the halfway point of the District 32-6A boys soccer race fast approaching, the Rivera Raiders are fending off every challenge.
Only one more round of games remains on Friday to complete the first half of 32-6A play.
Rivera maintained its 32-6A lead with a 2-1 victory against Los Fresnos on Tuesday at Sams Stadium.
The Raiders are 6-0 with 17 points in district with second-place Hanna (5-1, 15 points) close behind. Hanna edged Harlingen High 3-2 in penalty kicks on Tuesday.
Los Fresnos (3-3, nine points) is also in the mix.
The Los Fresnos girls defeated Rivera 1-0 in the nightcap of Tuesday’s 32-6A doubleheader at Sams.
The Rivera boys are grateful for their lead in district.
“Like we always say, all the credit goes to the players and the glory goes to God,” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “Los Fresnos is a very good, physical team. They were going after and winning (almost) every 50-50 ball.
“Yes, we’re young, but that’s no excuse,” Garcia added. “Hopefully this is a good learning experience for us because things are only going to get tougher (in the second round of district).”
The match was played with foggy, cool conditions and a light mist falling, making the artificial turf field at Sams slippery.
The Raiders went up 1-0 in the 39th minute, just before halftime. The scoring play began with a Raiders’ free kick from near midfield that went to the left side of the goal. From there, the ball was crossed over and Roberto Melendez, positioned near the right post, punched it in from close range.
The score became 2-0 for the Raiders during the 53rd minute when Julian Espinoza’s shot from 35 yards skipped off the wet field and slipped through the Los Fresnos goalkeeper’s hands before settling into the back of the net.
Barely two minutes later, during the 55th minute, a shot by Los Fresnos’ Benjamin Ramirez found the mark in the right corner of the net from about 10 yards away to pull the Falcons to within 2-1.
“The game was really exciting and both teams fought hard all night,” Falcons coach Javier Navarrete said. “I’m proud of my team tonight. We played (hard) until the last whistle. That’s all we can ask for as coaches.”
Meanwhile, the girls match was closely contested and won by Los Fresnos on a corner kick by Allison Spier taken from the right side early in the second half. The ball was headed in to give the Lady Falcons a 1-0 advantage they held on to the rest of the way for the victory.
There was a stoppage of approximately five minutes with 17 1/2 minutes left when a shot by the Lady Raiders appeared to enter the goal and the officials ruled that it didn’t.
The clock was stopped and both teams went to their respective sidelines as the coaches for both squads met with officials at midfield, but the call stood.
“We didn’t see the best from our district tonight (in terms of crowd control),” Lady Falcons coach Patricia K. Hernandez said of the protests from the Rivera side.
The Los Fresnos girls improved to 5-1 with 15 points, while the Lady Raiders slipped to 3-3 with nine points.