HARLINGEN — With six minutes left in the match, Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca blasted a shot over the Donna North keeper to secure three points for the Hawks.
The 2-1 win Tuesday night at Harlingen South High School over the second-place Chiefs further cements the Hawks place atop District 32-5A’s standings with only four matches remaining on the season.
“Beautiful,” Harlingen South head coach Debra Galvan said about Fonseca’s goal. “We have been working on shooting. So, the fact that she shot and scored means that much more when they do what we ask them to do.”
| Harlingen South’s Alexis Fonseca (10).(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
Harlingen South enjoyed the bulk of possession in the latter stages of the match with the match level at 1.
Fonseca found space with all of the possession and combined with Noelle Araguz on the edge of the Chiefs penalty area. Araguz slipped Fonseca in the box.
Fonseca turned and fired her shot. The shot was too much for the keeper to handle as it found the back of the net.
“The play leading up to it worked perfectly,” Fonseca said. “All of our girls were working really well together, and we communicated through all of it.”
| Harlingen South’s Noelle Araguz (2) .(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
Donna North leveled the match five minutes after halftime. Miranda Mendoza scored on a tap-in to give her side the hope of picking up points.
The Chiefs trailed the Hawks by five points entering the match, but come out of it now down by eight. The Chiefs still look a lock for the playoffs with a seven-point advantage over Edcouch-Elsa coming into Tuesday night.
Donna North sat back and soaked up pressure for much of the match. Their keepers pulled off a few saves to keep them in the match. The defense also played well despite Fonseca and her twin Aliyah Fonseca constantly running at them throughout the pitch.
“We tend use them wherever we see fit,” Galvan said. “When we settle in and see a team, that is when we adjust and move them. They have been a great asset to our team.”
Alexis Fonseca started on the right side. The speedster nearly put her side in front after testing the Chiefs keeper at her near post in the 8th minute.
The Hawks found their opening goal a few minutes later when Kayren Vasquez had the final touch with the ball bouncing around the six-yard box.
| Harlingen South’s Kayren Vasquez (14).(Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald) Denise Cathey |
It could be the second time in a week that Harlingen South faces a second-place team in the district, depending on Brownsville Porter’s result on Tuesday night.
“We are just trying to make sure we get better every game,” Galvan said. “Today we did not connect on as many passes as we would have liked to, but we are ready. We are going to start getting ready and prepared for Porter because we know they are hungry.”
The Hawks meet the Cowboys at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Harlingen South High School.