By CLAIRE CRUZ, Staff Writer
LOS FRESNOS — Los Fresnos Lady Falcons coach Diego Luna said when junior striker Ashley Esparza is 100 percent, no one can stop her.
Esparza wasn’t at 100 percent physically when the Lady Falcons faced District 32-6A foe Donna North in a Class 6A regional quarterfinal, but she still couldn’t be stopped. Esparza, playing with a black eye suffered in the area round, recorded a hat trick to lead Los Fresnos to a 6-1 victory and the regional semifinal round in front of a large home crowd at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
“I’m feeling really good. I’m super proud of my team. My team did amazing,” Esparza said. “Overall, I feel like we’ve got this. I feel like we’re going to take this really far, and I don’t know how I can express my gratitude for this team. I really love them so much.”
The Lady Falcons and Lady Chiefs split their district series, with Los Fresnos winning the first 2-1 and Donna North taking the second 4-3 in overtime. But the rubber match was dominated by the Lady Falcons from the start.
“Both of us know each other pretty good, and the girls knew coming in it had to be a perfect game because (Donna North has) outstanding players and they’re well-coached,” Luna said. “We had to come out swinging, and that’s exactly what the girls did. … They came in understanding there’s work to do for 80 minutes, and that’s exactly what they did.”
The Lady Falcons and Lady Chiefs battled in the midfield, but crisp passing and a speedy offensive attack gave Los Fresnos an edge. Los Fresnos took a 1-0 lead two minutes into the game after a defensive miscue by Donna North resulted in an own-goal following a corner kick.
Sara Garza extended the lead when she scored off a pass from Hannah Wrinkle during the 13th minute. Just past the midway point of the first half, Mindy Perez raced to the net and sent a strong kick in for an uncontested goal.
Esparza notched her first score with 10 minutes remaining in the half as she beat the Donna North goalkeeper 1-on-1 after chasing down a long send-in. Three minutes later, the junior — who scored the game-winning goal for the Lady Falcons on Tuesday despite having a swollen left eye after being kicked in the face — turned a great pass from Wrinkle into a goal, making it 5-0 in favor of Los Fresnos.
Perez, Garza, Wrinkle and Esparza were among the standouts in a balanced and consistent effort from the Lady Falcons.
“I feel like we communicated a lot more, which is amazing. And our passes were a lot more on-point this game (than the first two times we played Donna North),” Esparza said. “With the really big crowd we had, it felt outstanding. It was amazing. (This win) really boosts us a lot. It gets us confident and prepared for our next game.”
Gabby Aviles, Alexis Hernandez and Nancy Espino kept the Lady Chiefs competing despite the growing deficit early in the contest. Donna North controlled possession during the final five minutes of the first half behind its physical playing style and managed a score, making it 5-1 at halftime.
The second half was a more even affair. Los Fresnos stayed pushing and continued to generate scoring opportunities, but an improved defensive effort and some timely saves by Donna North goalkeeper Michel Garcia kept the offense quiet for most of the half.
Los Fresnos goalkeeper Andrea Calvillo played well throughout the game to minimize Donna North’s production despite the Lady Chiefs working to create some good looks. Kimberly Salazar and Daniela Alegria contributed to a Lady Falcons defense that contained Donna North from start to finish.
“We hate losing, but the losses that we had, those are lessons,” Luna said. “In the second game against them that we lost, we learned a lot about ourselves. We had to change the lineup a little bit to better match their players, especially (Aviles). She’s destroying every team. We adjusted, and the girls did great today.”
The Lady Falcons sent several shots just wide or too tall for most of the second half, but Esparza ended the scoring drought late. With four minutes left on the clock, she took advantage of the misplaced goalie following a collision to record a hat trick.
Los Fresnos will face either Austin Lake Travis or Round Rock High in the Sweet 16.
“It’s amazing, but I tell the girls, ‘Every win, we celebrate that night, and tomorrow we work,’” Luna said. “I’ve been with the program for 10 years, and our goal is always making it to the state final. Anything below the regional tournament, we feel that it was not a successful season. But just because we reached it doesn’t mean we stop working. We have a tough opponent coming up, so we got to go out there and compete.”