By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
If the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers were looking for a dominating performance in District 32-6A girls soccer to show they indeed deserve to be part of the district’s playoff conversation, they got it Tuesday at home against Harlingen High.
The Lady Chargers (3-2, nine points) built a 2-0 first-half lead en route to winning 5-1.
Brownsville Veterans was up 4-0 before the Lady Cardinals (1-4, four points) tallied their lone goal midway through the second half.
“It feels very well (to win),” said Sam Bodden, a sophomore forward/midfielder for the Lady Chargers who highlighted the victory with a pair of goals. “I’m very proud of my team. We did it all together.
“I’m thankful for the win, thankful for my team and thankful for my coach (Luis Troncoso) for bringing us together and helping us,” Bodden added. “This win helps boost our confidence and hopefully will help us on Friday (against Los Fresnos).”
It didn’t take long for Brownsville Veterans to find the net.
After the Lady Cardinals’ goalkeeper blocked a shot from close range just six minutes into the match, the ball immediately came to Blanca Capistran on the deflection. She drilled it into the goal from approximately 15 yards out on the left side, and the Lady Chargers were on their way to victory.
“It helps a lot (to score early),” Troncoso said. “It gives us that momentum that we need to keep going forward and to just keep pressure on the opposing team while we look for more goals.”
With 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half, the Lady Cardinals’ goalkeeper came out and Bodden beat her on a shot from about 10 yards to make it 2-0.
Harlingen High was awarded a direct kick from 20 yards with time ticking away in the half. The referee appeared to be giving instructions to the defense and moving it back as the clock ran.
Meanwhile, the Lady Cardinals’ Leah Rivas-Leal was set to take the kick and she noticed the time was about to run out. She went ahead and kicked the ball into the right corner of the net, but since the referee hadn’t blown his whistle, he waved off the goal and the half ended as the Harlingen side protested.
Four minutes into the second half, it became 3-0 when Bodden tallied her second goal on a slow roller out of a crowd.
Barely 25 seconds later, it appeared Harlingen High might score when the ball got past the Lady Chargers’ goalkeeper and came dangerously close to crossing into the goal. But at the last moment, a Lady Chargers defender cleared it away.
With 25 minutes remaining, Brownsville Veterans’ Mia Villalpando fired in a shot taken from 12 yards to give her team a 4-0 advantage.
Arley Gonzalez scored Harlingen High’s lone goal three minutes later from approximately 15 yards to close the gap to 4-1.
Valeria Araujo recorded the Lady Chargers’ fifth goal on a medium-range shot following a corner kick taken from the right side with 10 1/2 minutes to go to account for the final score of 5-1.
District action continues at 5:30 p.m. Friday as Brownsville Veterans plays host to Los Fresnos and Harlingen High is at home against Lopez.