By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are quickly closing in on another District 32-6A girls soccer title.
The defending 32-6A champions won 4-2 Friday against Rivera at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium to move within one victory of the conference crown.
In the nightcap of Friday’s 32-6A doubleheader, the Rivera boys edged Los Fresnos 1-0 on a goal by Julian Espinoza with two minutes left in overtime.
Highlighting the Lady Falcons’ win was senior forward Cassy Lozano, who scored all four of her team’s goals as Los Fresnos built a 3-0 halftime lead.
“I’ve never scored four (in a game) before,” Lozano said. “I feel lucky. We had good teamwork tonight and made good passes. That’s what helped us win. Now I’m hoping we can repeat as district champs.”
The Lady Falcons (11-2, 32 points) have one more district game at home at 10 a.m. Monday. They’ll play host to Weslaco High (2-11, five points).
The girls teams of Harlingen High (10-3, 30 points) and Harlingen South (9-4, 30 points) both won Friday and could possibly pass Los Fresnos in points for the title on the final day of district play.
Rivera’s girls (9-4, 25 points) remain in fourth place in 32-6A and already have clinched a playoff berth along with Los Fresnos and the Harlingen schools.
“At this point, we knew Rivera and Weslaco High have been looking to take us out of our district championship run,” Lady Falcons coach Patricia K. Hernandez said. “We were able to defeat Rivera tonight and now we’ve got to get the job done against Weslaco on Monday.
“We can’t underestimate Weslaco,” she added. “We know they’re going to come in here and fight hard.”
Lozano caught the Rivera goalkeeper out of position and scored into an open net from the left side during the 14th minute for a 1-0 Los Fresnos advantage. Her second goal came on a high shot from the right side in the 30th minute.
Situated near the left post, Lozano put in a header off a corner kick taken by Allison Spier from the right side during the 33rd minute to make it 3-0 at intermission.
Lozano tallied her fourth goal during the 43rd minute and the score became 4-0.
Rivera’s Alyssa Ayala scored twice in the last five minutes to make the final score 4-2. Her second goal came with three seconds remaining.
The boys match was evenly contested throughout its 100 minutes of action — 80 in regulation and 20 in OT.
Espinoza, a senior midfielder, received a pass just as he was about eight yards from the goal and sent a well-placed shot into the left corner of the net out of the reach of the Falcons’ goalkeeper for the game-winner in the 98th minute.
“I just put the ball (on a track) inside towards the far (left) post and the goalkeeper didn’t have a chance at it,” Espinoza said. “It feels really magnificent when my team plays like that (and gets me that type of pass). It feels good when our team plays like that with heart.”
The Rivera boys (12-1, 35 points) stay in first place in 32-6A going into the Raiders’ final district match at noon Monday at Sams Memorial Stadium against Harlingen South.
Rivera and third-place Los Fresnos (9-4, 27 points) have both qualified for the playoffs along with second-place Hanna (11-2, 33 points).
“We told our guys before the game that it was going to be a good test because Los Fresnos is a playoff-caliber team,” Raiders coach Salvador Garcia said. “I think our players reacted well to the challenge.
“The satisfaction of it being such a close game and seeing our guys hustling and looking for the victory, that’s what makes it so great to see as a coach,” Garcia added. “Winning district would be nice, but at the same time, that’s not what we’re ultimately looking for. We have higher expectations than just winning district.”