NATHANIEL MATA | THE MONITOR
LA JOYA — For half of the district season, La Joya Juarez-Lincoln was getting by shorthanded, with key pieces of the starting 11 injured. Now, the Huskies are healthier and back to big wins, like Tuesday’s 6-0 victory over La Joya Palmview at La Joya ISD Stadium.
On Tuesday, the Huskies resembled last season’s group that finished a game away from the state championship.
The Huskies were swarming early, sending two quality chances at the goal in three minutes. Fernando Zavala made a pair of stops to stave off the immediate pressure, but he couldn’t keep the Lobos level for long.
Juarez-Lincoln senior midfielder Manuel Castrejon scored the game’s first goal on a shot that was intended as a pass to Gerardo Reyes. Instead, the ball went over the head of Reyes and past the Lobos keeper, who had been preparing for a header.
Castrejon knew the early flurry of offense rattled Palmview and called it a major aspect in wearing the opponents down mentally.
“Lucky the shots we shot at the beginning of the game went in, and Palmview lost their head — their focus,” Castrejon said. “It was just those shots that killed them in the beginning of the game. That was the key to this game.”
The last meeting was much tighter — a 1-0 result in favor of the Huskies.
Juarez-Lincoln’s Johan Arevalo scored 20 seconds after the game’s first tally, at 6:20. His goal was a shock to the crowd as well as the defending Lobos, who had less success containing the Huskies as the game went on.
Reyes was one of the players who suffered an injury early in the district season. The reliable goal scorer looked back to 100 percent against Palmview.
Reyes netted a beautifully placed free kick in the top corner — out of the reach of Zavala — to put the score at 3 goals to none.
“We’re on a streak,” Reyes said. “The three past games we’ve been scoring more than five goals on each team. It feels great getting to score goals for my team. Most of all, not to get injured. I’m grateful for that.”
The Huskies continued to pour it on in the second half. Reyes also scored the game’s fifth goal, after being sent on a breakaway from a pass by Juan Castillo.
Castillo had a goal of his own, jarring a ball free from the goaltender and then depositing the loose change.
Javier Torres scored the sixth and final tally of the night for the Huskies.
“The kids are playing great, six goals, what can I say?” Juarez-Lincoln coach Victor Ramos said after the win. “We needed this game to play better.”
Ramos was happy to see his senior group, led by Reyes and Castrejon, show off its maturity. The game was chippy at points, but the Huskies avoided getting involved in after-the-whistle altercations.
“I think they’re doing really well,” Ramos said. “Experience-wise and discipline. In previous years, we had to deal with some kind of discipline. This year, they’re very focused, and you can tell.”
Castrejon, who was last season’s District 30-6A MVP, is obviously a key cog in the team’s success. But the senior has the maturity to recognize that big wins can benefit his soccer program in the long term.
“That’s one of our strategies our coach tries to work with us: score as many goals as we can and give the — we could say bench — some minutes so they can experience playing on the field,” Castrejon said. “We’re on our way out. This is our last year, and they are upcoming players that need to play.”
The Huskies will continue their march toward another district title Friday when they face Mission High — the only team to beat Juarez-Lincoln in district play.
“It was a tough loss. We weren’t expecting that,” Castrejon admitted about the 3-0 loss on Feb. 2. “We’ve been working very hard, and it’s sweet that we have another game coming up.”
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