MERCEDES — After the Brownsville Veterans Chargers tied the game with less than two minutes left, the Chargers and Valley Voew Tigers seemed headed to overtime.
The Tigers didn’t get the memo, though, going on the attack seeking the game-winning goal.
With one minute left on the clock, Tigers forward Diego Ontiveros took the ball deep into the penalty area before slipping and nearly losing the ball. After getting up and recovering, Ontiveros crossed the ball to the middle of the field.
Meeting the ball in the middle was Peter Yanez, who cocked his foot back and fired a shot through the back of the net for the go-ahead goal, sending his team to the Region IV-5A semifinals with a 2-1 victory over the Chargers on Friday at Tiger Stadium.
“It feels great to score that goal,” Yanez said. “The match was pretty close all game. It’s just so exciting that I got that goal to send the team to the semifinals.”
The Tigers went into the matchup with a chip on their shoulders, looking to avenge their 2-0 loss to the Chargers earlier this season, their last loss of the year.
“That’s all the team talked about after we beat Rio Grande City,” Salazar said. “They beat us 2-0 last time. We didn’t have a full team, but no excuses. They beat us fair and square. My hats go off to my players. We didn’t have any subs because our starting 11 asked to play the whole game. So, that’s what they did and they brought the win to us.”
After a back-and-forth 75 minutes, the Tigers broke the tie when Ontiveros created some space in the penalty area, before putting the ball over the goalkeeper to give his team a 1-0 lead.
Trailing by one goal, the Chargers pushed the ball, getting the equalizer with 1:55 left in regulation. Finding paydirt was Parsa Setayesh, who put the ball into a wide-open net off a bobble pass by the Tigers’ goalkeeper.
The tie lasted less than 30 seconds, with Ontiveros finding Yanez for the golden goal during the final minute of the match.
“It was all hustle,” Salazar said. “I saw the clock and it was less than two minutes. When I saw Ontiveros take it, he’s one of our best kids, I knew he wasn’t going to shoot the ball. I knew he was going to pass it. He fell down, but he got up. It was all hustle. I don’t want to call it lucky. I just want to call it good hustle by our team. My hat goes off to Coach Vasquez and his team. He always has a good team. So, it’s always tough against them, especially in the playoffs.”
With that, the Chargers’ season ends with an 11-4-3 overall record, after being crowned the district champions and winning their first- and second-round playoff games.
Meanwhile, the Tigers advance to the Region IV-5A semifinals, taking on the San Antonio Southwest Dragons at a time, date and location yet to be determined