By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
It was a soccer match four days in the making.
The District 32-5A game between Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Lopez that was suspended Friday due to heavy rain was completed Monday with the Chargers winning 2-1.
The contest was started Friday on Brownsville Veterans’ natural grass field before a deluge of rain forced the action to be discontinued in the second half when water accumulated on the playing surface and made conditions unsafe for the players.
It was halted with 28:06 remaining and Brownsville Veterans leading 1-0 thanks to a goal from close range by Ramon Perez just eight minutes into the match.
The two teams completed the game Monday on the artificial turf field at Sams Memorial Stadium, resuming the match at the point it had been stopped.
The win allowed the Chargers to retain the 32-5A lead with a 4-0 record and 12 points. Lopez slipped to 2-2 with six points.
“It’s way too early (in the district race to get too excited),” Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said. “We have tons of games to come. I honestly feel that anyone can beat anyone in this district on any night. It’s a good thing and a bad thing. We just have to make sure we’re taking care of business one game at a time.”
Vasquez said it’s the first time he’s coached a game where the result in district wasn’t determined until after a wait of several days.
“I’ve never had this happen before where we had to suspend a game like this, lay it off for a few days, play it and then look forward to playing again the next day,” he said. “You have tournament games (where you do that and play back-to-back days), but district is completely different.
“We had to focus on these 28 minutes (against Lopez) and not anything else for tomorrow (concerning our next match Tuesday against Porter),” he added.
It remained 1-0 Monday until the Chargers’ Aldo LeKach scored from medium range to give his team a two-goal advantage with 11 minutes left. LeKach’s shot was deflected by the Lopez goalkeeper, but the ball still managed make it into the left corner of the goal.
The Lobos pulled within one goal again with a minute and a half remaining. Jose Echevarria converted a penalty kick for Lopez with a strong shot into the left corner of the net to account for the final score of 2-1.
Monday’s Lobos-Chargers match marked the third time a game involving a Brownsville team was completed on another day after a suspension Friday due to rain. Two Friday matches were resumed and finished on Saturday at Sams as Hanna beat Harlingen South 2-1 in District 32-6A and Pace edged Donna North 3-2 in 32-5A.
District 32-5A competition continues Tuesday as Lopez plays host to Mercedes and Brownsville Veterans is scheduled to play at home against Porter.
Vasquez said his team’s home field should be dry enough to be the site for the game against the Cowboys.