By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers battled back and captured a victory they desperately needed in the District 32-5A girls soccer race.
The Lady Chargers trailed 1-0 and 2-1 before scoring the match’s last two goals to win 3-2 against the Porter Cowgirls on Tuesday at the Brownsville Veterans field.
The Brownsville Veterans girls improved to 3-2 in district with nine points after suffering losses in their two previous matches. Porter slipped to 2-3 with seven points.
“We desperately needed this win,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “I told our girls we needed those three points (with a win). It’s tough coming off back-to-back losses, but I told them we just needed to keep fighting and going forward.”
“It was a close game,” Troncoso added. “Porter has a good team.”
The Cowwgirls went up 1-0 during the 18th minute when the ball was centered on a high pass from the right side. The pass couldn’t have been placed any better as the ball came to Lizbeth Garcia, who was situated near the left post. She headed it into the goal as the goalkeeper couldn’t make a play in time.
The score remained 1-0 in Porter’s favor until a little more than five minutes had expired in the second half. That’s when Samantha Bodden scored on a narrow angle with a shot taken from the right side that managed to catch the left corner of the net, making it 1-1.
Just four minutes later, Porter went ahead 2-1 when Christy Herbert sent a high shot into the right side of the goal from about 15 yards away.
At that point, the match was far from over.
Melissa Medina pulled the Lady Chargers even at 2-2 with 11 and a half minutes remaining when she scored from approximately 12 yards out.
When, with six minutes to go, the Lady Chargers took their first lead when Christina Pullen scored from close range, giving her team a 3-2 advantage.
Even then, the outcome still was in doubt as the Cowgirls were awarded a penalty kick with a little more than four minutes left. But the PK try sailed high and the Lady Chargers held on for the victory.
In addition to scoring the first goal for the Lady Chargers, Bodden also assisted on her team’s second and third goals.
“I think Veterans wanted it more than we did tonight,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said. “Their girls were running to the ball and we were waiting for it.”
District action continues Friday as Brownsville Veterans plays at home against Donna North and Porter travels to Mercedes.