By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
Harlingen South made up for the only blemish on its record.
Lopez had its scoring opportunities but didn’t capitalize as Ruayda Bouls scored the only goal for the Harlingen South Lady Hawks during the 1-0 victory over the Lady Lobos in the District 32-6A match Tuesday at Lopez.
Lopez handed the Lady Hawks their only loss of the season — a 1-0 match as well — a month ago in Harlingen.
“The team looked pretty good, we just missed some opportunities,” said Lopez assistant coach Ramon Zuniga, who was filling in for Alex Macias. “The girls did their best, but lately we’ve had problems capitalizing on opportunities.”
Both teams were aggressive from the start despite the cold, damp night that made the ball — and the footing — slippery all evening.
It was Harlingen South (8-1) that received a break early on, as Bouls slipped behind a pair of Lopez defenders and kicked it from about 30 yards out. She got it to hook into the left corner past the Lady Lobos goalkeeper’s outstretched hand in the 16th minute.
“It was slippery, wet out there. Very difficult to control the ball, to pass the ball, to do anything with it,” Harlingen South coach Omar Pedroza said of the lone goal. “But we played as well as we could. It was too bad, the game should have been better. I was not very happy with some of the calls, especially towards the end.”
Lopez (5-4) had its chances during the first half with twice as many shots on goal (12-6) and corner kicks (4-2) as the Lady Hawks.
But the Lady Lobos came up empty in the first half and trailed 1-0 at the break.
During the second half, South remained aggressive on the offensive end, trying to add to its lead. Lopez had trouble with the Lady Hawks’ defense after the break, struggling to find many open shots.
Lopez had its best chance to tie the game during the 77th minute. A penalty kick from about 25 yards out was lofted and the South goalkeeper tried to tip the ball to herself after mishandling the shot. Leslie Estrella of Lopez was right there for the tip in, but the official stopped play and gave the ball back to the Lady Hawks, denying the goal.
Lopez had a few more chances, but the South defense was stout and helped seal the victory to remain at the top of the district standings.
Zuniga was pleased with the team’s effort despite the setback.
“(Harlingen South) is a good team,” he said. “(Our) team is solid and we have several on the varsity for the first time, so hopefully we can get it together.”
Pedroza was glad that his squad played better than the last time it faced Lopez.
“It’s a really tough district, you can’t expect anything less,” he said. “We had to take advantage of the chances we had and we did. I’m happy with what we did. We played a lot better tonight and this is a tough place to play.
“Everyone’s got to play each other (in district), but we’re happy to get the win.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.