BY JON R. LAFOLLETTE | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — Not much went right for the Edinburg Economedes Lady Jaguars during their Class 6A bi-district 6-2 loss to Brownsville Hanna on Thursday at Weslaco East High School.
Their defense was absent, their communication lacked, and the injuries kept coming.
“That’s what happens when you make mistakes,” Economedes coach Robert Garcia said. “We weren’t staying on them like we were supposed to. We were supposed to pressure, and there wasn’t that much pressure.”
Instead of giving the Lady Eagles a physical match, Hanna overwhelmed Econ with speed and a swarming defense that consistently blanketed the ball. It was the Lady Jaguars’ third-straight bi-district loss.
Hanna junior forward Natalie Garcia scored four goals, three during the second half. Her first came with 24:04 remaining in the first half.
“I was surprised she scored so much at this stage,” Hanna coach Eliseo Guzman said. “We knew she could score two or three goals a game for us, but there were a lot more openings today.”
Though the Lady Jaguars collected two goals near the match’s end, the outcome was essentially decided by then.
Adding to the sting of defeat was the pain of injury. Three Econ players suffered ailments at various points during the match, including Arandi Platas, a freshman who tweaked her right ankle with 17:20 left during the first half. Platas did not return to the game and threw off Econ’s game-plan.
“I had one offensive player to sub out,” Gacia said referencing Platas. “And then she got hurt. So I was like, ‘OK, let’s get some defense in there.’ You wanna make changes, you wanna make switches, but you don’t have any more players to switch. We made the switches, but it didn’t work out.”
The most serious injury occurred with 3:21 left in the second half when junior keeper Tiffany Benavidez collided with a would-be Hanna scorer during a successful attempt to stop a goal. Benavidez was slow to get up, appeared woozy while walking toward the sideline and was ultimately carted to the bench. Team officials did not comment on the nature of her injury.
By then, however, Hanna’s victory was all but assured. The Lady Eagles piled on five goals during the second half, including a pair of goals from junior forward Julissa Urbina-Salazar.
The postseason win is a first for Guzman, who is coaching in his debut season with the Lady Eagles.
“This has been going very well,” Guzman said. “We have a special group. There is a lot of excitement for this group. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, but they were really outstanding.”
For Garcia, the loss does not taint a season he describes as “successful.”
“We worked very hard this season,” he said. “It takes a lot of work to get (to the playoffs). The fact that we got here was the important part. A lot of teams don’t make it here. The fact that we’re here is a good sign for us. We’ll continue to build.”