By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
CORPUS CHRISTI — After meeting for the third time in as many years, it was no surprise that the Corpus Christi Veterans Memorial Eagles and the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers needed more time to decide who would move on to Round 4.
Though the extra time was needed, the Chargers ultimately prevailed as Albert Maradiaga Jr. headed in the winning goal with 7:41 left to play, lifting his team to a 2-1 overtime win over the Eagles in a Class 5A regional quarterfinal Friday night at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi.
After playing to a 1-1 finish with both teams scoring goals during the final 16:18 of regulation, the Chargers seemed to have just a little bit more left in the tank, coming out as the aggressors in the extra periods.
“The kids just kept fighting, man,” Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez said. “(Corpus Christi Veterans’) kids left everything on the field, and my kids left everything out on the field. The ball just bounced in our favor one more time than it did for them. It was a hell of a game and the kids fought for it — it was not given to us.”
The Chargers now head to the Region IV-5A tournament for the third straight year. They will meet Kerrville Tivy in a regional semifinal next week at Cabaniss Field.
The winning goal came on a quick sequence started by Orlando Sanchez, who fired a pass to Eduardo Martinez near the right post before Martinez hit Maradiaga for the easy score.
“We knew it was going to be a very tough game that was going to come down to those opportunities, and we had to take advantage of them,” Maradiaga said. “At that moment, I just had to take advantage of (that opportunity). We had to maintain our structure. We knew (Corpus Christi Veterans) was a good team, but if we maintained our structure, we knew we were going to be fine.”
BVM took the lead late in regulation on a goal by Javier Ballesteros, who got ahead of a crowd near the goal and tapped the ball in off an assist from Sanchez at the 16:18 mark.
Ballesteros had a chance to put the game away less than one minute later, as he got ahead of a defender and fired a wide-open shot from about 20 yards away that hit the crossbar and flew out of bounds.
The Eagles’ Nico Lopez tied the game at the 8:58 mark, controlling the ball yards away from the net after several players popped it up multiple times and fired in a shot in traffic.
“When you play against a team that challenges you and keeps you on your toes, you can’t afford to make one mistake,” Vasquez said. “We never cleared the ball off our box on (that goal). There was a couple of times (Corpus Christi Veterans) got to it before we did and they made us pay for it. It’s always difficult when they catch up to you because they ride the momentum.”
The Chargers had a total of eight shots on goal and five corner kicks for the game.
Vasquez said the heat is on for his team to advance out of the regional tournament, and converting on more of those opportunities will be key.
The Chargers feel they are up for the challenge.
“After two years of coming out to regionals, there’s a lot of pressure to come back and go beyond,” Vasquez said. I think we felt more pressure this year. That’s the goal, to go further and to keep winning. We love the challenge, and we look forward to coming out here and hopefully put on a good show.”