By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Lopez Lady Lobos made the most of their soccer rematch with the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons on Tuesday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Having lost to the Lady Falcons twice at the 17th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament earlier this month, including in the championship match, the Lady Lobos were determined to enjoy a change of fortune during the two teams’ third encounter.
The Lopez girls came through with Tuesday’s 3-0 victory in a District 32-6A opener.
It was a fairly chilly evening with strong winds from the north and scattered raindrops, but those less-than-ideal conditions didn’t prevent the Lopez girls from putting together a solid outing that leaves them 1-0 in 32-6A with demanding tests against Harlingen South and Hanna just ahead.
“I think this game went really good,” said Carla Gracia, a junior forward for the Lady Lobos who scored her team’s second goal on a second-half penalty kick. “We had faced them twice already, and we had been training for this. Yes, we lost, but we didn’t lose (our motivation) on the field. We showed that today.”
Samantha Ruiz, the Lady Lobos’ senior center midfielder, scored the first and third goals for Lopez. Her first tally was a crossing shot into the net from the left side with six minutes to go before halftime that made it 1-0 at intermission.
Gracia converted her PK during the 54th minute to boost the lead to 2-0. Ruiz blasted in a rocket from 30 yards during the 59th minute for a 3-0 advantage.
“This feels good,” Ruiz said after the game. “(Considering) all the hard work we implemented in practice and to be showing it in the game, I’m just proud of my team. It was a hard game because I know what a competitive team Los Fresnos is, but I think a win like this just motivates us.”
The Lady Lobos even had a fourth goal waved off with three minutes remaining.
“It’s really early in the district race,” Lopez coach Alex Macias said. “Los Fresnos just had a bad game. They didn’t do as well as they did in our two previous games with them, but they’re a team you can never underestimate. They have a strong program, and they have a strong team.”
The best scoring opportunity for the Lady Falcons came during the 22nd minute when they had a clear shot from about 18 yards go off the left post.
The Los Fresnos girls can look to last year for consolation, as they opened district one season ago with a loss to Lopez before going on a winning streak and capturing the 32-6A title.