By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE — The Hanna Golden Eagles survived some anxious moments in winning Friday’s Class 6A regional quarterfinal soccer matchup 4-2 against the Harlingen South Hawks.
The victory at Brownsville Sports Park advances the District 32-6A third-place Eagles to next week’s Region IV-6A Tournament at BSP.
“It feels very emotional (to win), and it’s like a dream come true because we’ve been playing since the beginning of the season (in January) as a team,” said Hanna’s Miguel Payan, a senior captain and defender who scored the Eagles’ final goal during the second half with 20 minutes left to make it a two-score game. “I really have no words right now for how good this feels. It was just a great win tonight.”
Hanna is returning to the regional tournament for the first time since 2013, the year the Eagles advanced to the state final.
The 32-6A runner-up South boys, having won in the playoffs this season for the first time in school history, saw their promising campaign come to a close.
“First of all, I am very proud of my team,” South coach Julian Robles said. “Our boys fought hard until the very end.
“We started off a little slow tonight, but hats off to Hanna,” Robles added. “They played a great game against us, and I hope they do well at the regional tournament. It was a great match, and we had a lot of fan support. We had a lot of (scoring) chances, and so did they.
“What can you expect from a District 32-6A match like this one?”
The Hawks fell behind 3-0 early as Hanna scored goals during the 12th, 17th and 22nd minutes. Scoring the goals were Kevin Ochoa, Marko Garibay and Hector Quintero.
South rallied to score goals during the 30th and 33rd minutes to make it 3-2 at intermission. Scoring the Hawks’ goals were Leo Torres and Jose Lerma.
The Eagles breathed a sigh of relief after Payan’s goal with 20 minutes left.
“It’s great, winning is always great,” Hanna coach Reyes Prado said. “We had a couple of mistakes, and Harlingen South capitalized on them (to make it 3-2). South was eager to win also.
“South is a very well-coached team by Coach Robles, and we expected that,” Prado added. “We expected a battle, and we got one. It’s always nice to win a tough game like this one, especially after all these seniors have busted their behinds throughout the season.”
The 32-6A rivals split matches during the district season.
Hanna won at home against the Hawks 2-1 on Feb. 15 before South triumphed 4-2 at home against the Eagles on March 19.
Hanna advanced to Friday’s game with a 3-2 come-from-behind win against Laredo United South during the area playoffs Tuesday. The same night, South defeated McAllen Rowe 4-1 in the area playoffs at the Warriors’ field.
The Region IV-6A Tournament starts Friday at BSP.