BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
ROMA — Relief. This is all La Joya Juarez-Lincoln coach Victor Ramos could feel after his Huskies triumphed 3-0 over Laredo United in a Class 6A Region IV regional quarterfinal Tuesday night at Roma High School. The win puts the Huskies back in the Sweet 16 for the second time in three years. This for a program which got its start during the 2008-09 school year.
“We’ve been here three years in a row, and we’re finally jumping to the next level,” Ramos said. “It’s very tiring, but it’s sweet to be back in the Sweet 16.”
The three-goal advantage could be a bit misleading. Juarez-Lincoln was unable to capitalize on scoring chances in the box, and the Huskies’ defense dodged several bullets the Longhorns fired in their direction at close range.
“We’re talking about the regional quarterfinals,” Ramos said. “Every team that gets to this level is because they can play. Of course, we knew we had to take advantage of those opportunities that we were going to have, because they’re a good offensive team. We got three (goals), and we’re happy with that.”
The Huskies got the scoring started when senior midfielder Juan Hernandez put one on the board in the 14th minute. Juarez-Lincoln would take that 1-0 lead into halftime. In the 53rd minute, junior District 30-6A MVP Manuel Castrejon took a hit in the left corner of the box, was awarded a penalty kick and nailed it. Senior defender Victor Hernandez set up junior 30-6A Offensive Player of the Year Gerardo Reyes for the third and final goal about 15 and a half minutes later.
“I’m very shocked. I almost can’t believe it,” Castrejon said. “I wanted this game bad, and we all did. Luckily, we demonstrated it on the field. I’m proud to make history.”
“The teams get harder and harder as we go on, but as we go on, we’re getting mentally stronger, too,” Reyes said. “It takes hard work for us to be here, but we don’t want to make it this far. We want to go to state. That’s the main goal.”
Juarez-Lincoln will advance and take on San Antonio Johnson, which took care of Austin Lake Travis 3-1 on Tuesday night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at the Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio.
“We don’t know much about Johnson, but we saw some clips,” Ramos said. “They like to hold the ball and change sides. Seems like an orderly team. It’s gonna be a good match.”