By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Natalie Garcia apparently plays her best when she’s angry.
Garcia got mad and scored two second-half goals from close range to give Hanna a 2-1 victory over Rivera during their District 32-6A match Friday at Hanna.
“Honestly, I was really upset at the fact that we got scored on, so I wanted to put one in the back of the net,” Garcia said. “Usually that’s when I play the best, when I play angry.”
Hanna (5-1) came out aggressive on offense, putting the Lady Raiders on their heels on defense. The Lady Golden Eagles had plenty of opportunities during the first half, but came up empty. After a scoreless first half, each team seemed to know a single goal might be the difference.
“I think we have the tools and the talent to be aggressive from the get-go, and we knew we were going to get countered,” Hanna coach Jose Morales said. “We told our defense to be ready.”
Rivera (2-4) struck first as Yesenia Ortiz got behind the Lady Eagles’ defenders and was knocked down as she attempted to score.
Ortiz was awarded a penalty shot and made it count, hitting the bottom left corner of the goal to give the Lady Raiders a 1-0 lead during the 57th minute.
“And then we relaxed, that’s all it was,” Rivera coach Thomas Brashear said. “We relaxed and got sloppy and they took it, thatwas it. I give them a lot of credit. They didn’t stop. They didn’t give up, they kept playing their game.”
Hanna answered just four minutes later as Garcia slipped between a pair of Rivera defenders and punched it into the corner on the left side to tie the match at 1.
After each team went on the attack, Hanna made the most of another scoring opportunity. Garcia found an opening on the right side and swiftly kicked it past a diving goalkeeper to take the 2-1 lead.
“She’s a little untamed. I love her character, her attitude,” Morales said of Garcia. “She’s hungry for goals. I told her, ‘You’re going to score from wherever you’re at.’ I told her to stay back a little bit. They put their defenders up, and we got openings on both sides. I saw switches on the defense, and we were able to counter that.”
The Lady Raiders tried to answer, but the Lady Eagles’ defense held stout. Ortiz and Michelle Morales had chances within the final two minutes, but Hanna goalkeeper Amanda Alaniz was there each time to seal the victory for the Lady Eagles.
But Garcia felt the game shouldn’t have been as tight as it was.
“I felt we had control most of the game and should have put plenty of goals in during the first half,” she said. “We had a lot of chances. We didn’t put any in the net, so we had to take advantage in the second half.”
With the loss, the Lady Raiders face an uphill battle for a postseason berth.
“It was one of those games that could fall either way, but they had the run of the game,” Brashear said. “We have to get our act together, or we’re not going to make it. Now we’re so far behind the eight ball, it’s going to be some real, real hard work to get out.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.