By STEFAN MODRICH | Staff Writer
BROWNSVILLE – Throughout his team’s non-district game against Brownsville Porter on Tuesday night, Brownsville Rivera coach Eduardo Torres found himself emphasizing the same message as he had since his Lady Raiders found themselves trailing during the game’s opening minutes.
After falling behind by two goals, the Lady Raiders summoned the strength to make a late run and pulled even to salvage a 2-2 draw against the Cowgirls.
After coming up short on several prior opportunities, Rivera finally found its equalizer late in the second half with a point-blank header by Nadia Abrego that squeaked past Porter goalie Jasmin Reyna.
“I was telling the girls, ‘It’s never over until it’s over,’” Torres said. “These girls have big (hearts). They never stopped fighting. They went for the ball, every time they competed, we pressed on (Porter).”
Porter’s Azaneth Perez capitalized on a Rivera defensive lapse during the opening minutes and scored on a deflection to put the visitors ahead 1-0.
Perez had a 1-on-1 chance and a shot that was smothered on the ground by Rivera goalkeeper Kayla Alonso at the 23-minute mark, and moments later Alonso came sliding out of the box to thwart another shot Porter attempt.
At the 22-minute mark, Liberty Garza curled a shot from 25 yards out that went off the hands of Alonso and trickled into the net to double the visitors’ lead.
“They say in soccer 2-0 is the trickiest score (to maintain a lead), Cowgirls coach Abraham Garcia said. “It was just two mistakes, and unfortunately mistakes are goals.”
Leslie Peña got the Lady Raiders on the board with a goal on a free kick into the top left corner of the net with 14 minutes remaining in the period.
Porter led 2-1 at the end of the first half.
Torres said he made a defensive adjustment during the second half that helped stave off the Cowgirls, who had been assertive and in control offensively in the first half.
“I told (the team), ‘We need to press up high,’” Torres said. “‘Once (Porter gets) the ball, go to them and let them know that you’re there.’”
The approach allowed Rivera to counterattack and come up with more scoring chances, eventually setting up Abrego’s tying goal.
Play began to open up for the Lady Raiders after fouls committed by both sides resulted in red cards for both teams. The foul took Porter’s Garza off the field, and narrowed each side to 10 players the rest of the way. Garcia said Garza’s absence was a critical blow to his squad.
“Rivera’s a tough team,” Garcia said. “You can’t give them those opportunities, because they’ll take advantage of them.”
Peña took a corner kick for Rivera during the first minute of the second half and Julie Villanueva corralled the ball after it cleared the box, but the Lady Raiders failed to move the ball closer for a shot on goal.
Peña and Yianey Diaz led a surge at the midpoint of the second half for Rivera as both players maneuvered into the penalty area and had their shots stopped from close range. Peña earned Rivera another corner, but the Porter defense bent without breaking prior to allowing the tying goal.
“(Pena and Diaz) have been playing together since last year,” Torres said. “When one of those girls moves, the other knows where they’re going to go even before they’ve started moving.”
The Lady Raiders are scheduled to begin their District 32-6A slate at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 31 at Hanna.
The Cowgirls are set to open their District 32-5A schedule at 7:15 p.m. Friday at home against Donna High.