By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
It wasn’t easy and it took quite a comeback, but the Lopez Lady Lobos have reached the halfway point of the District 32-6A girls soccer race as leaders with a 7-0 record and 20 points.
The Lady Lobos trailed 1-0 after a goal by Brownsville Veterans Memorial 10 minutes into the second half Tuesday before rallying with scores during the 57th and 69th minutes to pull out a 2-1 victory against the Lady Chargers (4-3, 12 points) at Sams Memorial Stadium.
“We all work together and we know to never stop, never give up,” said Lopez’s Christie Escandon, a senior forward who scored the game-winning goal against the Lady Chargers.
“It feels really good (to be leading the district race), but we can’t stop now,” Escandon added. “We can’t let our guard down. We have to keep going with everything we’ve got in practice and when we play our games.”
The Lady Chargers had fewer scoring chances than the Lady Lobos, but they made an important one count during the 50th minute when Sam Bodden centered the ball from the far right corner and teammate Kasandra Jimenez punched it in from near the left post for a 1-0 lead for Brownsville Veterans.
“It was definitely a tough game,” Lady Chargers coach Luis Troncoso said. “We knew it would be that way. We had to stay focused the full 80 minutes (and we didn’t). Lopez was able to get some balls through, and they eventually had their scoring opportunities.”
Lopez’s comeback started during the 57th minute when Escandon sent a pass to fellow forward Carla Gracia, who quickly attacked, setting up a 1-on-1 confrontation with the Lady Chargers’ goalkeeper. Gracia fired a strong shot into the net from approximately 12 yards to even the score.
The game-winner came during the 69th minute when Escandon, situated on the left side of the goal, received a pass from teammate Samantha Ruiz and nudged the ball past the goalkeeper for a tally from about eight yards that eventually provided the victory.
“I thought once we scored our first goal, (Brownsville) Veterans kind of stayed back a little bit,” Lopez coach Alex Macias said. “Because we have so many (good) shooters, it kind of created a disadvantage for them (and helped us).”
Both teams now have open dates Friday as 32-6A takes a break. District action resumes next Tuesday with the start of the second round.