ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers were at their best for Friday’s District 32-5A soccer opener at Pace, particularly during the early stages of the match.
The Chargers made the most of their initial chances and led 3-0 just 11 minutes into the action. They went up 4-0 during the 19th minute and held an advantage by that same score at intermission.
Brownsville Veterans added two more goals during the second half and wound up winning 6-1.
“That’s what happens sometimes in this game of soccer,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “Sometimes, if you get chances and you put them in quickly, you’re able to throw off a good team like Pace.
“Pace has a hell of a team, and we knew it was going to be a difficult game against them,” Vasquez added. “If you weren’t here and heard the score, you’d think it was a one-sided game, but it was not. Pace has a very good team. Fortunately, everything went our way tonight. It was just that type of game where things went our way.”
It all started going in the Chargers’ favor during the eighth minute, when Brownsville Veterans was awarded a penalty kick for a knockdown. Pace goalkeeper Alfredo Gallegos blocked the PK, but Albert Maradiaga ended up with the loose ball and put it into the net seconds later for Brownsville Veterans’ first goal.
One minute later, the Chargers’ Felipe Esquivel tapped a rolling shot into an open net from the left side for a 2-0 lead. It became 3-0 when Mark Boswell drilled a direct kick into the left corner of the goal from just outside the penalty area during the 11th minute.
Boswell’s shot from the right side during the 19th minute made it 4-0, which was the halftime score.
Just 1 minute, 30 seconds into the second half, a goal by Rey Gonzalez increased the Chargers’ advantage to 5-0.
Pace’s Erik Chavez converted a penalty kick during the 65th minute to cut the lead to 5-1.
Less than one minute after Pace’s PK, Brownsville Veterans’ Humberto Sosa scored on a crossing shot from the right side into the left corner of the net to account for the final score.
Vikings coach Mario A. Zamora said his team will regroup and bounce back.
“They scored three goals on us in about 10 minutes, and we were not expecting that,” Zamora said. “It was tough to be down 3-0 so early in the game. We just have to keep working hard and correct our mistakes.
“As a coach, that’s my job,” he added. “I have to keep our guys mentally focused and ready for the next game. There are 13 (district) games that we still have, so there’s time (to regroup).”
The boys game was the first part of Friday’s 32-5A doubleheader at Pace. In the nightcap between the girls teams, the Lady Vikings, defending district champions, prevailed 1-0 over the Lady Chargers.
Just like the boys, it was also a district opener.
One play decided the outcome in the closely contested girls match. The Lady Vikings took a corner kick from the right side with a little more than three minutes remaining in the first half, and Paloma Zamora headed the ball in to make it 1-0 for Pace.
Zamora’s goal proved to be the game-winner between two teams who are each determined to return to the playoffs this season.
“This win means a lot because Veterans is a very good team and is well-coached,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “For us (to win), it meant keeping a tempo, having a rhythm, keeping our momentum going — it means everything. We took the game very seriously, and we won. It means we get three points, and we’ll take them.”
The Lady Chargers didn’t let up the entire way. They almost evened the score five minutes into the second half when one of their shots bounced off the left post.
“I really like how the girls played tonight,” said Alexis Guajardo, a senior forward/midfielder for the Lady Vikings and also their team captain. “It was an intense game.
“We know it won’t be easy, but we want to win the district title again,” she added. “We believe we can do it.”