By MARK MOLINA | Staff Writer
EDCOUCH — Coming into the last game of the District 32-5A season, the Brownsville Veterans Memorial Lady Chargers were desperate for a win over the Edcouch-Elsa Lady Jackets if they had any hope of reaching the postseason, and their defense played like it.
The Lady Chargers’ defense seemed to stand strong in tough situations, but that was until the Lady Jackets’ Meagan Acevedo found herself with a little bit of daylight after a header from Sarah Flores put her in scoring position a few yards away from the goal during the 66th minute.
Acevedo took advantage and put in the only score of the game with 14:45 left to play, lifting the Lady ’Jackets to a 1-0 win over the Lady Chargers on Tuesday night at Benny Layton Memorial Stadium.
The goal not only meant the difference in the game, but came as a relief to the Lady ’Jackets, who squandered similar opportunities throughout the night.
“ (Acevedo) was there, the pass was there; everything was there,” Edcouch-Elsa team captain Jada De Los Santos said. “The header that didn’t go in for (Acevedo) was right there, and we all thought it would go in. When it did go in, I felt some relief. Like, finally, we were able to score and pick up the win. Our defense was there and our offense was pushing it up, but we couldn’t get those goals in. Eventually we did, so I’m pretty happy with that.”
Edcouch-Elsa finishes 10-4 with the win and in second place in the district standings with 29 points. Brownsville Veterans finishes 7-7 with 22 points and in fifth place.
Porter defeated Pace, improving to 10-4 with 26 points to clinch the final playoff spot.
“ We were in a must-win situation, but that’s how it’s been all season,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “It’s been competitive and all the teams have been there, neck and neck. Edcouch has a really good team, and best of luck to them. We just have to regroup now and start preparing for next year.”
Lady Chargers goalkeeper Karime Benavides had a solid night with multiple saves but said a lot happened on the scoring sequence to which she and the defense failed to adapt in time.
“ It was just a mistake from our defense,” Benavides said. “The ball was headed backwards, and I tried going out. It was just a big mix of events, but unfortunately the ball went in.”
Benavides had multiple crucial saves, with two coming within two minutes of each other late in the first half and one diving save on a cross-field shot from Terry Gallegos on an assist from Flores with 27:20 to play.
While the Lady ’Jackets missed their opportunities to score, so did the Lady Chargers. Kennidy Rudd missed on a free kick early, and Raquel Cepeda couldn’t convert on a corner kick.
Troncoso said that ultimately spelled doom for his team.
“ It’s part of the game when you have two even teams,” Troncoso said. “We put the pressure on as well, but it’s part of the game. We’ve been solid defensively all season. If I’m not mistaken, we’re one of the best in the district. That’s what carried us the whole season, but we have to find the net. We need to work on it. We can hold teams to zero or maybe a goal, but if we don’t find the net ourselves it’s going to be hard to get those three points.”