McALLEN — McAllen Rowe has faced the threat of a premature end to its season on multiple occasions this year. Each time, they shrugged off that threat to live another day.
They did it again Tuesday.
The Warriors fell behind four times against Corpus Christi Flour Bluff but scored twice in the game’s final six minutes at Rowe to claim a thrilling 5-4 win to advance to the UIL Class 5A regional quarterfinals.
The Warriors will play city and district rival McAllen High, which beat Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial 3-1 on Thursday with the winner advancing to the Sweet 16. The teams will play at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rowe High School.
Rowe’s Genesis Valencia scored her third goal of the season with a line drive past keeper Jillian Martinez to tie the game for the fourth time at 4. Before the match started, Rowe head coach John Martinez had asked Valencia if she was feeling OK after stumbling prior to the opening kick.
Her answer was the defining moment of the match, breathing life into a defense that had sputtered throughout the night and invigorating an offense that was starting to feel the pressure of a clock winding down.
“I looked at her at the beginning of the game and she said she was good,” Martinez said. “She’s been here before. What an epic goal. She has kissed that post so many times this year, and she was at the right spot at the right time. We needed that.”
Just less than two minutes later it was Ayloni Garcia performing magic once again for Rowe. The senior star took a pass from Camila Gil and streaked down the middle of the field with two defenders inside her skin.
“She’s on cruise control,” Martinez said. “Right, left, between the legs, step over and shot — beautiful and with her left leg. Just amazing.”
The goal gave Rowe its only lead of the game — the only one it needed — on a night where Flour Bluff won a majority of the free balls and seemed to be regularly one step ahead of the home team.
“This might be the top win of all time,” Martinez responded when asked how big Tuesday’s victory was. “We keep it interesting — down by one with less that seven minutes. That’s the heart of a Warrior right there.”
Gil scored on one of her patented quick turnaround shots from the 25-yard line to tie the game at 3. The junior knew where she was on the field and never glanced at the defense or the keeper before he launched the rocket.
“Every time we would score they would score, and we wanted to play the (McHi) Bulldogs on Friday,” Gil said. “It was the moment where I got the ball, turned and shot. I didn’t look where the goalie was, but I remembered where she would be. It was the moment, and they are always telling me to take the shot because you never know.
Garcia scored her first goal of the night on a breakaway with a long pass from Gil. Garcia streaked into the box, stepped around the keeper and found an open net for a 2-2 tie.
Mia Mata scored the first goal for Rowe, tying the game on a header off a corner kick from Gil.
“Those girls have been doing it for the past 3-4 years,” Martinez said of Garcia, Gil and Mata. “They’ve been on the big stage before. This moment wasn’t too big for them, and it showed.