By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers had a strong belief they could defeat previously unbeaten Valley View in District 32-5A soccer.
They turned that belief into reality.
The Chargers’ Albert Maradiaga scored two goals from close range within the first eight minutes to lift Brownsville Veterans to a 2-1 victory over the Tigers on Tuesday night at the Chargers’ new artificial turf field.
It was a matchup between the two teams tied for the 32-5A lead at 3-0 apiece in the standings.
Brownsville Veterans continues district play at Porter on Friday as the sole district leader at 4-0.
“It was an indescribable feeling (to score those early goals),” said Maradiaga, a junior center midfielder. “Getting those goals so early just got us going.
“Valley View is a very good team, but we managed to take advantage of the opportunities first and go ahead first,” Maradiaga added. “It reminded us of the (San Antonio) Reagan game (last month in the Brownsville ISD Tournament that we won 1-0 on a penalty kick). This one was just like the Reagan game because it was very tough and intense for all 90 minutes. We played hard to the very final minute.”
Just three minutes into the action, Maradiaga dribbled in close and fired a shot into the right corner of the net beyond the Valley View goalkeeper’s reach.
It became 2-0 for the Chargers just five minutes later. Maradiaga again sent a close-range shot into the right corner of the goal.
The intermission ended with the Chargers up 2-0.
Barely three minutes into the second half, the Tigers took a corner kick from the right side and the ball was headed into the right corner of the net, pulling the Tigers to within 2-1. But, as it turned out, they came no closer.
Along with Maradiaga’s energizing early goals, the Chargers were boosted by several important and timely saves by their senior goalkeeper, Moises Navarro.
“You can talk about two or three guys as the standouts, but really, it was a victory by the whole team, even the guys who came in off the bench,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “They all stepped up and did a good job.
“I thought we played a very good first half,” Vasquez added. “We kind of lost control of the second half a little bit. I don’t know if it was the fact that Valley View pressured us a lot more (during the final 40 minutes) looking to try to get back into the game. We should have been playing a little smarter and doing things differently, but it’s still a great game for us to learn from.
“Against a very good team like Valley View, you get exposed and you see what you need to learn from. Hopefully we can look at the game and make the necessary corrections.”
Valley View came into the match ranked No. 1 in the state in Class 5A by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches.
The Tigers were 14-0-1 overall and 3-0 in district prior to Tuesday’s setback. Previously this season, Valley View’s only time not to win was a 2-2 non-district tie with Laredo LBJ last month.
It appears the 32-5A Executive Committee is investigating a claim of possible ineligible players regarding Valley View that may change the Tigers’ records. It appears nothing is official yet.
At least one 32-5A coach has confirmed the investigation is taking place.
Meanwhile, Tuesday’s 32-5A doubleheader at Brownsville Veterans ended with the Lady Chargers capturing a 3-0 win against the Lady Tigers.
The Lady Chargers were up 2-0 at halftime. Scoring goals for the Brownsville Veterans girls were Maggie Martinez, Viviana Gutierrez and Raquel Cepeda.
The Lady Chargers improved to 2-2 in 32-5A. The Lady Tigers fell to 0-4.