ROY HESS | Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are the new leaders of the District 32-6A girls soccer race.
A pair of second-half goals lifted the Lady Falcons over previous 32-6A leader Hanna 2-0 on Tuesday evening at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
“It feels amazing,” said Allison Spier, a senior sweeper and team captain for the Lady Falcons. “We work hard every single day, and it’s just nice to know our hard work pays off. Now we’re finally on top.
“I’m just very proud of the girls and that we showed up tonight (to play well),” Spier added. “I love my team.”
Los Fresnos is the defending 32-6A champion. Tuesday’s win improves the Lady Falcons to 4-0 with 11 points. Hanna is now in second at 3-1 with nine points.
“We were really hoping for the win tonight to give us that little bit of breathing room (in the standings),” Lady Falcons coach Patricia K. Hernandez said. “We’re trying to finish off the first round of district with a gap between us and the second-place team.
“This was not the matchup we had expected (for first place), but obviously for Hanna to come into this game undefeated (at 3-0 in 32-6A), they had to have something there, and they proved it tonight,” Hernandez added. “Hanna hustled and worked hard. They were just as competitive as we were.”
After an evenly played and scoreless first half, the Lady Falcons went up 1-0 barely two minutes into the second half.
The Hanna goalkeeper came out and went after a loose ball in the goalmouth, but couldn’t get to it in time. In a wild scramble for the ball, Los Fresnos’ Liz Garza nudged it into the left corner of the open net for her team’s first goal.
It became 2-0 for Los Fresnos with a little less than seven minutes left when freshman Hannah Wrinkle beat the Hanna goalkeeper in a 1-on-1 situation from about 10 yards out with a shot to the left corner of the net.
Hanna will try to get back on track Friday at home against Harlingen South. Los Fresnos is at San Benito the same night. Those games mark the end of 32-6A’s first round.
“It was a close game tonight,” Lady Eagles coach Eliseo Guzman said. “I don’t think the score really reflects how close it was. We just need to keep working hard and try to stay near the top (of the standings).”
It ended up being a sweep for Los Fresnos as the Falcons won the 32-6A doubleheader nightcap Tuesday with a win in penalty kicks against the Hanna boys.
Los Fresnos scored a first-half goal and Hanna tallied a second-half goal after it had a penalty kick try bounce out off the crossbar.
After 100 minutes of regulation and overtime play, the boys match went to PKs tied at 1.
Hanna went first and had its initial PK try blocked. Los Fresnos shot high on its fifth PK, leaving the score in penalties tied at 4. The sixth one for Hanna had his PK attempt stopped, too, before the final player to take a PK for the Falcons converted, giving Los Fresnos a 5-4 edge in the penalties.
The official score for Los Fresnos was a 2-1 win in PKs.
The Falcons improved to 2-2 with five points, and Hanna slipped to 1-3 with five points.