By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
Highlighting Friday’s schedule of District 32-6A soccer openers is a game matching the top two 32-6A girls teams from one year ago.
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons play host to the Harlingen South Lady Hawks.
The district is playing varsity doubleheaders again this year, with the girls set for 5:30 p.m. matches and the boys to follow at 7:30 p.m., assuming no overtime nor PKs are needed during the opening game.
The Los Fresnos girls have won 32-6A the past two seasons but have lasted only one round in the playoffs both times. They go against a South girls team that finished as district runner-up by only one point last season, and wound up advancing to the Region IV-6A Tournament final and finishing with a 23-4 overall record.
There should be some fireworks as the two teams square off again.
“We expect to see an elite team in Harlingen South,” said Lady Falcons coach Diego Luna, who served as the assistant under Patricia Hernandez before taking over as the main coach of the Los Fresnos girls this season. “Every year, they are contenders for the district title and go deep in the playoffs. We are excited about the challenge and will prepare to go out and compete.”
The Lady Falcons tuned up for their district opener with a 4-1 win Tuesday at Edinburg High. They surged to a 4-1 lead during the opening half thanks to three goals by Ashley Esparza and one by J.C. Gaznares.
“Our predistrict schedule has been tough, no doubt,” Luna said. “We have played some of the top teams in the Valley — McAllen High, McAllen Memorial, (La Joya) Juarez-Lincoln, Edinburg Vela, Donna North and Sharyland Pioneer, and we have been able to compete with an 11-4-1 record.
“The girls know district play is tough and have been preparing through our predistrict games,” Luna added. “The team is feeling confident, and our girls will match the experience and skill of other district opponents.”
The Lady Falcons go against a 10-4-1 South team with five returning starters in Sarah Garza, Caroline Grannum, Sandra Lopez, Olivia Olivarez and Korynne Reininger.
As always, the Lady Hawks have some skilled players coming up from their subvarsity ranks who have benefited from club competition.
“We are playing well, but we know we have a tough game ahead of us against Los Fresnos on Friday,” said South coach Omar Pedroza, who earlier this season captured his 500th career victory as the Lady Hawks’ coach through 24 seasons.
When asked about the key to Friday’s game, Pedroza said, “Los Fresnos has a lot of speed at forward. We’ll need help from our midfield.”
OTHER 32-6A OPENERS
With only six teams in 32-6A again for the second straight year, every match becomes vitally important.
Other 32-6A openers at 5:30 p.m. Friday for the girls include San Benito at Harlingen High and Brownsville Rivera at Brownsville Hanna.
For the boys at 7:30 p.m. Friday, the 32-6A openers include South at Los Fresnos, Rivera at Hanna and San Benito at Harlingen High.
The second date for 32-6A games is scheduled for Tuesday.
32-5A UPDATE
No one is all that surprised to see Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Brownsville Porter and Valley View leading the District 32-5A boys race with 2-0 records and six points apiece. Behind them are Brownsville Lopez (1-1, three points), Brownsville Pace (1-1, three points), and Donna High, Edcouch-Elsa and Mercedes (all 0-2 with no points).
What’s a little more unexpected is the 32-5A girls race, where Porter alone holds the lead with a 2-0 record and six points. The Cowgirls are followed by Lopez (2-0, five points), Brownsville Veterans (2-0, four points), Pace (1-1, four points), Valley View (1-1, three points), E-E (0-2, one point), Donna High (0-2, one point) and Mercedes (0-2, no points).
“The team is coming together, and the girls are playing better and better every game,” Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia said.
There are seven returning starters for the Cowgirls. They are goalkeeper Jazmine Reyna, defender Keenia Palacios, midfielders Marina Rios and Jacqueline Gonzalez, forward Azaneth Perez and forward/midfielders Denisse Romero and Liberty Garza.
The Cowgirls stayed unbeaten in district with a 2-1 win Tuesday at Mercedes. Garza beat two defenders to give the Cowgirls a 1-0 first-half lead. The Porter girls went up 2-0 during the second half on a penalty kick by Romero. Mercedes scored on a PK with about 11 minutes left to make it 2-1.
GAMES OF INTEREST
Boys games at 5:30 p.m. Friday of particular interest in 32-5A include Valley View at Porter and Pace at Lopez.
For the 32-5A girls at 7:30 p.m. Friday, games of interest include Pace at Lopez and Valley View at Porter.