By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are making a statement in District 32-6A soccer.
With a 2-1 victory Tuesday at Hanna, the Chargers won their seventh straight game in district.
It was a win that keeps Brownsville Veterans tied atop the 32-6A standing with Lopez. The Chargers and Lobos are each 8-2 with 25 points. Lopez defeated Rivera 3-2 on Tuesday.
Hanna is still in the mix at 7-3 with 19 points.
“We’re glad to get out of here with a win,” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “Hanna is a top team in our district, and it’s always fun to play against them.
“To be honest, it’s been kind of complicated for us when we come to Hanna,” Vasquez added. “We don’t really play or practice on a field as wide as theirs, so the way we’re supposed to shift and move on the field here throws us off a little bit. I think we played a very soft first half and played much harder and with more intensity in the second half. We just willed ourselves to a win, I think.”
The Chargers made their one and only shot on goal count during the first half. With just 6 1/2 minutes gone in the match, the ball came in close to the box and was diverted back by a Chargers player to teammate Gabriel Montoya, who promptly drilled a strong shot into the net.
Brownsville Veterans’ one-goal advantage stood until Hanna found the net just 1 1/2 minutes into the second half on an equalizing tally by Jesus Hernandez. The Golden Eagles earlier had what they thought was their initial goal waved off on an offsides call midway through the opening half. Hanna had another shot go off the left post.
Still, the Chargers weren’t quite done. They came up with another goal to go ahead once again, and their defense remained solid the rest of the way to seal the 2-1 victory.
The game-winning goal for Brownsville Veterans came with 31 minutes to go after a Chargers’ corner kick taken from the left side was knocked high into the air by the Hanna goalkeeper. When the ball came down, Jesus Arena, one of tallest players for the Chargers, was there on the doorstep of the goal to punch it in and account for the eventual 2-1 final score.
“The more we win, the more confidence we’re gaining,” said Garret Wild, the Chargers’ sophomore goalkeeper. “We had a slow start in district because we weren’t scoring goals. We’re scoring goals now, and that’s been the difference.”