By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
La Joya Juarez-Lincoln is becoming a well-rounded soccer school.
The Juarez-Lincoln boys have been considered one of the top teams in the Rio Grande Valley for quite some time.
The Juarez-Lincoln girls now are making a name for themselves as well.
The Lady Huskies emerged as champions of the Brownsville ISD Girls Soccer Tournament on Saturday by defeating Hanna 3-1 and PSJA North 6-0 in Gold Group pool-play action at Brownsville Veterans Memorial.
The three-day, 24-team tournament was played at six sites. Besides Brownsville Veterans, the other sites included Pace, Hanna, Rivera, Sams Memorial Stadium and Brownsville Sports Park.
The Juarez-Lincoln girls now boast an 8-0 record after a successful opening weekend to the 2019 UIL soccer season.
“More than anything, what stands out to me right now is our girls are playing very well collectively as a team,” said Lady Huskies coach Ricardo Garza, now in his fifth season of guiding the team. “There is a lot of great competition in the Brownsville school district, and we’re very glad to be playing here.
“Winning this tournament is a momentum builder,” Garza added. “With this (tournament) win, our girls know now they’re able to overcome the obstacles we face. We faced a lot of great opponents, especially ones from the Brownsville (school) district, and my hat is off to all of them. This (tournament) win is something that builds character in our girls.”
The 6-0 victory against PSJA North clinched the tournament championship for the Lady Huskies.
Highlighting the victory over the Lady Raiders were Lincoln-Juarez’s Priscilla Hernandez and Melanie Olivarez.
Hernandez, a junior midfielder, blasted in a free kick from approximately 50 yards away to make it 2-0 in the first half for Juarez-Lincoln. Olivarez, a junior forward, later tallied a pair of goals against the Lady Raiders to lead her team in scoring for the match.
Earlier in the day against Hanna at Brownsville Veterans, the Lady Huskies built a 3-0 first-half advantage en route to defeating the Lady Golden Eagles, who finished as the tournament’s third-place team since they also lost to PSJA North 2-1 on Saturday. PSJA North wound up as the tournament runner-up.
Hanna coach Eliseo Guzman said the BISD girls tournament to open the new soccer season was a beneficial experience for his squad.
“We had a good tournament,” Guzman said. “I saw good chemistry among the players.
“I had a chance to see my players in different positions,” he added. “Hopefully we can have a good season in district.”
Also Saturday, the tournament featured Silver Group pool play at Pace to determine fourth, fifth and sixth places.
Pace beat PSJA High 3-0 and tied Rivera 1-1 to finish as the event’s fourth-place team. Also, Rivera later downed PSJA High 2-0 to take fifth place, leaving the Lady Bears as the sixth-place finishers.
In last year’s tournament final, McAllen Memorial defeated Pace 2-1.
This year for the first time, pool play was used throughout the entire tournament, even on the final day.