By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Los Fresnos Lady Falcons are district champions in girls soccer for the fourth time in six years.
The Lady Falcons played pretty much an ideal first half with aggressive play on the offensive end and scored a pair of goals during the opening 40 minutes en route to a 2-0 victory at Hanna on Friday.
Los Fresnos raised the District 32-6A trophy after winning District 32-5A three times out of four seasons between 2010 and 2013.
Friday’s game matching the Rio Grande Valley’s top-ranked Lady Falcons (12-2, 34 points) and the No. 2 Lady Golden Eagles (11-3, 32 points) attracted a standing-room-only crowd, one of the biggest in Brownsville this soccer season.
“I’m a part of an amazing team,” said Cristen Lumbreras, a senior forward/midfielder for the Lady Falcons. “We came out hungry tonight. We came out with so much passion for this game. We wanted it and we weren’t going to let up until we got it.”
The Lady Falcons went up 1-0 just 10 minutes into the game when Tanya Prazelini headed in a corner kick taken from the left side by Veronica Bratschi.
With the clock ticking under five minutes remaining in the first half, the Lady Falcons made it 2-0 when the ball came to Rubi Soto from the left side. Her shot from eight yards away hit the crossbar and bounced into the goal, providing a little more of a cushion to Los Fresnos’ lead.
“We worked very hard through our spring break this week, and we came into this game very confident,” said Clarissa “Claire” Castaneda, a sophomore center midfielder for the Lady Falcons. “We practiced our butts off the whole week, and we came here (to Hanna) and did just what we had to do to beat them.
“We’re just happy we’ve made it to the playoffs (after missing the postseason last year),” she added. “Once I knew (a few weeks ago) we were in the playoffs, I knew we were going to make it to first place in district (too).”
The Lady Falcons next face PSJA Memorial, the fourth-place team from District 31-6A, in the bi-district round of the playoffs Friday in Pharr.
“We knew it was going to be a battle tonight and that whichever team hustled to every ball was going to be the team with a good outcome,” Los Fresnos coach Marissa Wood said. “Our girls stayed focused and on fire for each other. Being on spring break, it’s kind of a gamble to see where everybody’s minds and hearts are going to be this week, but they sacrificed and it showed tonight.”
The Lady Eagles’ best chances to score happened within the first 30 seconds of the second half. They quickly attacked and sent a shot off the crossbar during a strong sequence of chances that also included a close-range header that was tapped away at the last second by Lady Falcons goalkeeper Ashley Ibarra, who recorded several standout saves during the contest.
The Lady Falcons turned away every scoring threat by Hanna.
“We’ve been there before (trailing) a couple of times, and I figured we could get out of this one, but we didn’t,” Hanna coach Jose Morales said. “Los Fresnos did things the way they should be done, and what else can you say about that? They were beating us to the ball and beating us on every single little play, and that was it.”
Hanna goes into the playoffs as the third-place team from 32-6A behind second-place Harlingen South (11-3, 33 points) and will go against Edinburg Economedes or Edinburg North from 31-6A.