VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Monday, April 1

Area Round

Class 5A

Brownsville Veterans 5, Laredo Cigarroa 1

Tuesday, April 2

Area Round

Class 6A

Brownsville Hanna vs. Laredo United South at Roma HS, 5:30 p.m.

Donna North vs. Laredo Alexander at Roma HS, 7:30 p.m.

Brownsville Rivera vs Laredo LBJ at San Antonio Southwest Legacy HS, 7 p.m.

Harlingen South at McAllen Rowe, 8 p.m.

Class 5A

La Joya Palmview vs. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial at Cabaniss Soccer, 6 p.m.

Sharyland High vs. Victoria East at Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, 6 p.m.

Valley View vs. Laredo Martin at La Joya ISD Stadium 6 p.m.

Class 4A

La Vernia at Grulla, 6 p.m.

Corpus Christi London at Zapata, 6:30 p.m.

Progreso vs. Yoakum at Beeville Jones HS, 7 p.m.

Hidalgo vs. Gonzalez at Corpus Christi Calallen, 8 p.m.

BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

The first full night of the RGV soccer playoffs brought plenty of upsets. A common line from coaches is “anything can happen in the postseason.” Some coaches whose teams knocked off higher seeds weighed in on how their teams made “anything happen.”

District 31-6A’s fourth seed, the Edinburg High girls, had a Goliath task taking on powerhouse Los Fresnos.

Friday night was windy, which gave a clear advantage to teams when the gusts were at their back rather than in their face. After Edinburg was able to hold the District 32-6A champions off the scoreboard as the Falcons had the wind, the Bobcats started to believe.

“In the first half, we were going against the wind. So, at halftime, the girls were talking amongst themselves saying, ‘We got this. We just have to keep playing our game and doing what we’ve been doing: creating, free-kicks and set plays,’” Edinburg High coach Cerjio Elizarraraz said. “It was at halftime that we realized that they felt they could play with that team.

“We had to pressure them. We had to find a way to pressure their offense or their midfield, their defenders, whoever had the ball. That was probably the main thing. The girls never stopped running all night long.”

The Bobcats finally broke through in the extra time period, when Regina Monroy took a shot that the Falcons’ keeper mishandled.

In McAllen, both McAllen Rowe teams emerged victorious in a doubleheader against 29-6A champs Laredo United.

The girls’ team put in a strong defensive performance, and Hethyr Moore kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard. The bi-district match was decided after overtime, in winner-take-all penalty kicks.

After the girls’ team pulled the upset, the boys were center stage on the Rowe field.

Laredo United scored first, but Rowe boys coach Jose Jimenez said his team was ready for the opponents, scoring the next two.

“Our strategy, it worked,” Jimenez said. “I knew they were going to be in our defensive third, but we knew what to do. We knew their rotation.”

The game was tied twice — first at 1-1 and then when United responded to make the score 2-2.

A goal on a penalty and finally a breakaway goal from Cesar Hernandez sealed the deal to knock off the No. 1 seed.

“I always feel that good teams don’t respect the not-so-good teams,” Jimenez said of his opponents. “They keep on doing exactly the same deal. They don’t have to adjust or readjust because they rely too much on the knowledge of the system. They continue because they know they have the players or system that’s going to pull.”

Hernandez had two goals, while Diego Gil and Brandon Vasquez scored the other two.

The win marked the first playoff victory for the Rowe boys’ team since a 2007 victory over Laredo Martin.

Rowe’s boys and girls advance to Tuesday’s area round with another doubleheader on home field, this time against the Harlingen South Hawks.

The upper Valley wasn’t immune to being on the wrong side of an upset. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln boys, which scored 65 goals in district play, were unable to put one past Laredo United South. The Huskies lost 1-0 at La Joya ISD Stadium.

With La Joya High and McAllen Memorial also dropping their bi-district matchups, the Rowe boys team is the last team standing from a competitive 30-6A field that is without staple playoff team Mission High.

On Thursday, another district champion was shut out when the Edinburg North girls lost to Harlingen High 3-0. Second-seed Edinburg Vela and third-placed Donna North also lost, leaving EHS as the lone girls team still standing from 31-6A.

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BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Monday, April 1

Area Round

Class 5A

Brownsville Veterans vs. Laredo Cigarroa at Cabaniss Soccer, Corpus, 8 p.m.

Tuesday, April 2

Area Round

Class 6A

Brownsville Hanna vs. Laredo United South at Roma HS, 5:30 p.m.

Donna North vs. Laredo Alexander at Roma HS, 7:30 p.m.

Brownsville Rivera vs Laredo LBJ at San Antonio Southwest Legacy HS, 7 p.m.

Harlingen South at McAllen Rowe, 8 p.m.

Class 5A

La Joya Palmview vs. Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial at Cabaniss Soccer, 6 p.m.

Sharyland High vs. Victoria East at Corpus Christi Flour Bluff, 6 p.m.

Valley View vs. Laredo Martin at La Joya ISD Stadium 6 p.m.

Class 4A

La Vernia at Grulla, 6 p.m.

Corpus Christi London at Zapata, 6:30 p.m.

Progreso vs. Yoakum at Beeville Jones HS, 7 p.m.

Hidalgo vs. Gonzalez at Corpus Christi Calallen, 8 p.m.

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Monday, April 1

Area Round

Class 5A

Brownsville Pace vs. Corpus Christi Flour Bluff at Raymondville, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, April 2

Area Round

Class 6A

Brownsville Hanna at McAllen High, 6 p.m.

Edinburg High vs. Laredo Alexander at Ramiro Barrera MS, Roma, 6 p.m.

Harlingen South at McAllen Rowe, 6 p.m.

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln vs. Harlingen High at Richard Thompson Stadium, Mission, 6:30 p.m.

Class 5A

Edcouch-Elsa at Gregory-Portland, 6 p.m.

Sharyland Pioneer vs. Victoria East at Corpus Christi Cabaniss Soccer, 6 p.m.

Brownsville Lopez vs. Corpus Christi Veterans at Corpus Christi Cabaniss Field, 8 p.m.

Class 4A

Edinburg IDEA Quest vs. Rockport-Fulton at Alice, 6 p.m.

Hidalgo vs. Corpus Christi London at Corpus Christi Calallen, 6 p.m.

Progreso vs. Pleasanton at Alice HS, 8 p.m.

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL BOYS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Thursday’s Games

Bi-district Round

Class 6A

Brownsville Hanna 3, Edinburg High 0

Donna North 3, San Benito 0

Class 5A

La Joya Palmview 2, Brownsville Porter 1

Brownsville Veterans 3, Sharyland Pioneer 0

Class 4A

Grulla 2, Port Isabel 1

Friday’s Games

Bi-district

Class 6A

Harlingen South 3, Edinburg Economedes 2

Brownsville Rivera 3, Edinburg North 1

Laredo Alexander 4, La Joya High 3 (PKs)

McAllen Rowe 4, Laredo United 2

Laredo United South 1, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 0

Laredo LBJ 5, McAllen Memorial 1

Class 5A

Sharyland High 3, Brownsville Pace 0

Class 4A

Hidalgo 9, Raymondville 3

Progreso 4, Brownsville IDEA Frontier 1

Zapata 6, La Feria 0

Saturday’s Game

Bi-District 5A

Valley View 8, Roma 1

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 28

Bi-district Round

Class 6A

Harlingen High 3, Edinburg North 0

McAllen High 6, Laredo LBJ 1

Class 5A

Edcouch-Elsa 1, Roma 1

Brownsville Pace 1, PSJA Memorial

Sharyland Pioneer 3, Brownsville Porter 0

Friday, March 29

Bi-district Round

Class 6A

McAllen Rowe 1, Laredo United 0 (PKs)

Edinburg High 1, Los Fresnos 0 (OT)

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln 2, Del Rio 0

Harlingen South 5, Donna North 3

Laredo Alexander 2, McAllen Memorial 0

Class 5A

Brownsville Lopez 2, Sharyland High 0

Class 4A

Hidalgo 5, Port Isabel 1

Edinburg IDEA Quest 2, Rio Hondo 1

Progreso 2, Lyford 0

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER BOX SCORES

Friday’s Games

Class 6A Bi-district

EDINBURG HIGH 1, LOS FRESNOS 0 (OT)

Los Fresnos – – — 0

Edinburg High – – — 1

EDINBURG HIGH (1): Regina Monroy

LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN 2, DEL RIO 0

Del Rio 0 0 — 2

LJ JUAREZ-LINCOLN 0 2 — 2

LA JOYA JUAREZ-LINCOLN (2): Amber Segura, Melanie Olivarez

Saturday, March 30

Class 6A

Brownsville Hanna 2, Edinburg Vela 0

BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER

EDINBURG — Trying to predict the UIL soccer playoffs, especially in the Rio Grande Valley, can be difficult.

On paper, District 32-6A champion Brownsville Rivera was heavily favored against Edinburg North in the opening round of the postseason.

On the field, however, the Cougars gave the Raiders a strong challenge that had the two-time state champions sweating during the opening moments.

Rivera was able to avoid the upset Friday night behind a hat trick by junior Salvador De Leon to win 3-1 over Edinburg North at Richard Flores Stadium.

In the end, an experienced Rivera squad capitalized on its chances, while the young North squad did not.

Coach Salvador Garcia wasn’t surprised his Rivera team was pushed to the limit in its first playoff game.

“There’s no No. 1 (ranking). Records don’t matter, and everything is 0-0,” Garcia said. “The rankings, the standings don’t mean anything. We had a slow start and they took advantage of us. We took until we were up 2-0 to start playing our style.”

Before De Leon found the net for the first time, it was all Cougars on possession. During the first 10 minutes, they had multiple looks from in close. The best look came almost 8 minutes in, when Jorge Rivera laid the ball off to Jose Cano, who shot the ball just wide of Danny Esquivel in net.

Directly after the North crowd was up-in-arms for an apparent non-call, Rivera was awarded a free-kick from just outside the area. The ball smashed the crossbar and found the waiting foot of De Leon, who made no mistake from in close.

“Our coach always tells us, ‘Don’t ever be nervous inside the box.’ The people that should be nervous are the defenders,” De Leon said. “I remembered to stay calm, and I was in the right position.”

North had three prime opportunities to tie the game around the 30-minute mark of the first half. One shot was saved by the goalie, but the next two were made by Rivera defenders desperately throwing their bodies in front of the ball to preserve the lead.

During the final minute of the first half, De Leon scored on a pretty shot that hit the post before resting behind the line for a 2-0 lead to take the air out of the home side.

Edinburg North left the field with long faces, but the 10-minute halftime speech was enough for Cougars coach Elias Moran to have his team ready for another strong 40 minutes against an elite program.

“We were not lucky because of the circumstances. They got a couple of goals, but we came back. We never came up,” Moran said. “We had possession of the ball and we competed, and I’m happy because 90 percent of this team is coming back next year.”

De Leon scored his third goal after a nice pass with 21:52 to play in the game. He said he didn’t want all the credit for the offense, but was soaking in the moment.

“It’s a blessing, scoring those three goals is something only you can dream of and thanks to God it became a reality today,” De Leon said. “It’s an honor to play for this team, for these coaches. Just to put on the shirt of Rivera High School. It is a tradition and hopefully, we keep it going.”

North scored its lone tally when Loera stole a ball from a defender and was able to beat the keeper with a low shot. The Cougars didn’t threaten to tie the game, but they had chances to cut the lead to 1. Esquivel was up to the challenge of a powerful free-kick in the final 15 minutes.

“We started this season with a new team. It was a new process for us,” Moran said. “We came to this game with the objective to pretty much give it our best, to make it our best game of the season. We faced a really great champion from Brownsville, really well-coached. We demonstrated a lot of heart. We were mentally tough.”

Rivera advances to face Laredo LBJ, which beat McAllen Memorial 5-1 in bi-district.

[email protected]

BY TJ GARCIA | SPECIAL TO THE MONITOR

DONNA — The Harlingen South Hawks used a trio of first-half goals and a late second-half surge to turn back the Donna North Chiefs 5-3 Thursday night to win the bi-district matchup.

Five Harlingen South players scored goals, but the Hawks had to rely on a late second-half penalty kick and a goalie’s miscue to break 3-3 tie and extinguish a furious Donna North comeback.

South advances to play McAllen Rowe in the area round, meanwhile Donna North’s season ends with the home loss.

The stiff southeast wind was a major factor in the match as the first six goals scored were all notched on the field’s north net. South scored its first three over a four-minute stretch that sent the Lady Chiefs reeling into intermission.

South coach Omar Pedroza said he told his team at the break that the game could easily be tied when the wind would turn in Donna’s favor — and it did.

“Look, I told them at half that they were a really good team. I told them to relax. They are very capable,” Pedroza said. “Then we went from 3-0 to 3-3 real quick. They are an outstanding team. We just managed to score in the couple chances we had in the second half.”

Donna North’s charge was led by sophomore forward Gabby Aviles. Her fight, speed and right leg lifted North right back into the game with goals at the 34:50 and 20:45 marks to make the score 3-2 in South’s favor.

Four minutes later and leveraging the all-important wind, Nancy Espino scored the equalizer from some 35 yards out. The two teams played evenly until South was awarded a penalty as the result of a hand ball.

The Hawks’ Stephanie Torres calmly found the net and with 9:52 left in the contest. Harlingen remained in control the rest of the way, adding an insurance score late to finally put the game on ice.

Aviles said the Chiefs did not get down at half, and she was proud of their effort.

“We said at the beginning of the game no matter what happens we need to fight and we need to push,” she said. “I think we’re going to do good again (next year) definitely. We want to make it into the playoffs again and just keep on going until we can’t.”

VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SOCCER POSTSEASON SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 28

Bi-district Round

Class 6A

Harlingen High 3, Edinburg North 0

McAllen High 6, Laredo LBJ 1

Class 5A

Edcouch-Elsa 1, Roma 1

Brownsville Pace 1, PSJA Memorial

Sharyland Pioneer 3, Brownsville Porter 0

VALLEY HS GIRLS SOCCER BOX SCORES

Thursday’s Game

Class 5A Bi-District

SHARYLAND PIONEER 3,

BROWNSVILLE PORTER 0

Sharyland Pioneer 2 1 — 3

Brownsville Porter 0 0 — 0

SHARYLAND PIONEER (3): Jocelyn Boyle, Bella Austin 2

Friday, March 29

Bi-district Round

Class 6A

Laredo United at McAllen Rowe, 5:30 p.m.

Los Fresnos at Edinburg High, 6 p.m.

La Joya Juarez-Lincoln vs. Del Rio at Laredo’s Shirley Field, 6 p.m.

Harlingen South at Donna North, 6:30 p.m.

McAllen Memorial vs Laredo Alexander at Zapata, 7 p.m.

Class 5A

Sharyland High at Brownsville Lopez, 6 p.m.

Class 4A

Port Isabel at Hidalgo, 6 p.m.

Lyford at Progreso, 7 p.m.

Rio Hondo vs. Edinburg IDEA Quest, at Hidalgo High School, 8 p.m.

Saturday, March 30

Class 6A

Edinburg Vela at Brownsville Hanna, 6 p.m.