NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
EDINBURG — Edinburg Vela wanted to send an early message in District 31-6A play, and the SaberCats succeeded with a 3-1 win over Edinburg High on Tuesday night at Richard Flores Stadium.
With both teams coming off of losses in penalty kicks, points were at a premium for the rival campuses trying to create early traction.
“We needed a good mentality to start off. We came off with only one point, and we were in fifth place, according to our coach,” freshman Taylor Campbell said. “So it was just important that we started off well, got everything moving fast, just so we can get the momentum going and score.”
Out of the gates, Vela forward Odessa Leal was an important part of the team’s offense. She looked for teammates making runs forward and spearheaded the SaberCats’ early possession.
Both teams had some chances early, but the higher quality opportunities belonged to the SaberCats, and they found a breakthrough 12:30 into the game.
Krystin Calvillo launched a 35-yard shot over the outstretched arms of Edinburg High’s goalkeeper.
“One point was not enough for last week. We needed those three points for today,” Vela coach Americo Cortez said. “We were facing a very good team — Edinburg High. We knew they were going to come hard. They’re aggressive. They were never going to stop running, and that’s what we did. We lost our style of playing for a certain amount of time in the field.”
With 16:11 to play, the offense started to click more consistently, and it was Calvillo’s turn to provide the passing. She made a perfect pass to Ayssa Arevalo on a two-versus-one break, and the goalie had no chance to make the stop.
The Bobcats had trouble pushing the ball into attacking position the entire game thanks to the stout defensive edge play by the SaberCats’ outside backs. Cortez said he changed to just three deep defenders to create more offense.
Kassandra Rodriguez, Brianna De Leon, Dayana Cantu and Danya Selber shared time on the field, and each player was called on to clear balls and choke off passing lanes.
“My defenders have always been good. Every time they play, they got to two or three offsides,” Cortez, a first-year coach, said. “Today, we started with a line of three instead of a line of four. They knew they had to play together, and they were tough. They were aggressive with the ball, and they were good. I’m really proud of them.”
“Now that we have our (new) coach, he’s been helping us out a lot with trying to not let that ball get past us,” Kassandra Rodriguez said. “We clear up the ball in order for the forwards to get the ball and our offense to do their thing.”
Vela had one more goal up its sleeve in the second half, and it came off the foot of Campbell.
She received a pass in traffic just outside of the box and made a few more touches before wiring a shot just above the goalie’s reach and below the crossbar.
“I have high standards for myself. I’m just working, hopefully trying to get leading scorer,” Campbell said. “If anything, I’m just trying to score in every game. I have a goal for myself, and I’m trying to achieve that.”
Edinburg High ended Ashley De La Cruz’s shutout with a late goal by Debanhi Rodriguez.
With four of a possible six points through two games, Edinburg Vela is looking for more. Not only in terms of point production, but also how close they are playing to their potential.
“We’re thinking about playoffs right now,” Cortez said. “We’re thinking about going hard at the playoffs. It’s a team, we want to go up high. The way we’re playing right now, we’re not at the level to get into that.”