PHARR — When the girls’ soccer season got underway this year, Pharr IDEA head coach Yasmine Lopez’s first concern was being able to field enough players to have a full team.
Those concerns are a distant memory now for the Lions, who were crowned District 31-4A champions. They open the Class 4A bi-district playoffs at 6 p.m. Friday against Brownsville Jubilee at the Brownsville Sports Complex.
It is the second playoff appearance for the Lions in program history. The previous time, they advanced as a charter school. Now, they are part of the University Interscholastic League (UIL) and have won the first soccer district title to the school.
Through the first four games of the season, however, it didn’t look as if the Lions would clinch a postseason berth, let alone roll to the district’s top spot. They lost 4-2 to Hidalgo and dropped an overtime tie with Raymondville in penalty kicks. Even their first victory wasn’t won on the field but on a forfeit against Donna IDEA.
Then, something changed.
The Lions won their next eight matches to close out an unprecedented season, outscoring opponents 30-7 during that span. They took it to both Hidalgo and Raymondville during the second time through district play. Senior Liliana Zuniga scored three times in a 3-1 win over Hidalgo and scored twice more in a 3-1 victory over Raymondville, while Elva Rodriguez added another score. They finished with 31 points, beating Hidalgo by one point and Raymondville by five.
“They were nervous the second time around because Hidalgo was undefeated at that point,” Lopez said. “I told them to go hard or go home and this was their time to beat Hidalgo. I said if we win this game we will win out. We did. They were definitely hungry that game.”
Zuniga is exceptionally quiet, until she’s on pitch. That’s when meek and mouselike transform into confident and Lion-like. She scored a team-high 15 goals and tallied a team-tying 10 assists during district. Five of those goals were during the two biggest games of the season, against Hidalgo and Raymondville.
“She’s quiet when she’s in front of someone,” said Lopez, in her first year as head coach. “But on the field it’s all about the team, communication and trusting each other. And she can shoot. Ashley (Hernandez) and Lily have been big, big armor for us this year to win district.”
Sophomore center mid Ashley Hernandez, who started playing at age 4, was often on the passing side of Zuniga’s goals. Hernandez dished out 10 assists. She also found the back of the net eight times, second on the team. Jessica Rodriguez followed with seven goals, Nailea Cepeda scored six and Rodriguez added three.
“We all knew we could get this far, we’ve been working so hard and doing our best,” Hernandez said. “We thought Hidalgo was going to be our toughest matchup. Everyone gave their best effort. They were undefeated and we beat them.”
“The goal was to win,” Zuniga said, matter-of-factly. “When we beat Hidalgo, we started believing.”
Now the Lions, making a triumphant return to the pitch after not playing for the past two seasons due to COVID-19, will play a Jubilee team that finished fourth in its district.
“Those girls eat, breathe and sleep soccer,” Lopez said. “I know mine haven’t played for two years but I’m not worried about them, I’m just worried about our girls. I’ve been confident in these girls. They just needed a push and someone to believe in them because they didn’t believe in themselves.”