By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
By continuing to win, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers are putting themselves right in the thick of the District 32-6A girls soccer race.
The Lady Chargers scored one goal during each half and recorded a strong defensive performance to shut out defending 32-6A champion Los Fresnos 2-0 on Friday at Brownsville Veterans.
The Lady Chargers were coming off Tuesday’s 5-1 triumph at home against Harlingen High.
Brownsville Veterans and Los Fresnos now are tied for second place in district with 4-2 records and 12 points. Lopez, a 1-0 winner Friday at Harlingen High, is the 32-6A leader at 6-0 with 17 points.
Mia Villalpando, a senior forward, scored both of the Lady Chargers’ goals.
The first one came when she headed in the ball after it was centered to her from the far right side by teammate Andrea Morales with 3 1/2 minutes left until halftime. The second tally came just 2 minutes, 15 seconds into the second half as Villalpando sent a roller into the right corner of the goal out of the goalkeeper’s reach from about eight yards away during a 2-on-1 attack with a teammate to her left.
“I couldn’t have scored without my team,” Villalpando said. “It’s a team sport. I’ve been here all four years at (Brownsville) Veterans, and we just have one goal, and that’s to win and make it to the playoffs.
“Los Fresnos is a very good team,” Villalpando added. “They’re very skilled. I think this win brings up our hopes for our upcoming game (Tuesday) against Lopez.”
Teammate Mariana Gonzalez, a senior midfielder, agreed.
“It feels amazing to win this game,” she said. “I’m so proud of every single one of our players. We play our hearts out and we totally deserve this win, especially playing at our home. It gives us a lot of hope.”
Thanks to an unyielding Lady Chargers’ defense, the Lady Falcons saw a four-match winning streak come to an end.
Leading the way for the Brownsville Veterans’ defense was goalkeeper Fatima Avila along with Tory Morales, Stephanie Bender and Laura Cepeda.
“It was a very strong defensive performance,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “Our girls have been playing strong defensively all season. They showed up tonight and did an excellent job.”
District competition continues at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday as Brownsville Veterans takes on Lopez at Sams Memorial Stadium and Los Fresnos is at home against Hanna.