By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
This is the part of the soccer season the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons enjoy most.
It’s because they are accustomed to winning and making strong showings in the state playoffs.
Coming off last Thursday’s 3-1 bi-district victory against PSJA North at home, the Lady Falcons (22-6-1) see themselves as poised for another deep run in the postseason similar to the five-round run to the Region IV-6A final one year ago.
“Going far in the playoffs has made this program pretty unstoppable,” said the Lady Falcons’ Vero Bratschi, a senior midfielder on the wing and a four-year varsity player. “This season has been a good season. We haven’t been as successful as last year obviously (when we won District 32-6A), but we’re still here. We’ve made a huge comeback from the start of the season (to get to this point).
“I see a lot of potential and good things ahead for us. That potential is coming out right now.”
The next challenge for the 32-6A runner-up Lady Falcons comes against District 29-6A champion Laredo United South in the area round of the Class 6A playoffs at 6 p.m. Friday in Roma.
“It would be a dream come true (to continue winning in the playoffs) because I want us to go back to the field (at Brownsville Sports Park) where we played last year (in the regional final),” junior forward Gabby Moya said. “If we could do that and win, it would be a true feeling of victory. We have unfinished business from last year and we want to finish it.”
In 2015, the Lady Falcons came within 30 minutes of becoming the first Rio Grande Valley girls soccer team to qualify for the UIL state tournament. Los Fresnos led 1-0 in the Region IV-6A final against San Antonio Reagan before the Lady Rattlers tallied a pair of goals down the stretch to win 2-1.
That was then and this is now.
There are some young newcomers in the Los Fresnos lineup this season to complement the more experienced players but The Lady Falcons’ objective remains the same.
“Considering we lost about six seniors from last year, I think the team has come back from that,” junior center midfielder Clarissa “Claire” Castaneda said. “We’ve got some freshmen who are a really good addition to the team. At the beginning, our new girls were pretty shy and they didn’t really know what they were coming into. The further we’ve gotten into the season, the more comfortable they’ve become. It’s helped them a lot that we didn’t take it easy on them. We worked them hard, and now things are clicking. I think we can make it to the same spot we made it to last year and maybe go even further.”
Along with Castaneda and Bratschi in the midfield and Moya at forward, the Lady Falcons’ starting lineup includes Gabby X. Mariscal and Allison Spier in the midfield and Itzel Bochas at forward. Also, Castaneda at times moves up to forward.
The starting defenders are Rubi Soto, Taylor Theiss, Alexa Gutierrez and Perla Briseno. Ashley Ibarra is the goalkeeper.
Helping out from the bench are goalkeepers Aliyah Maza and Summer Sosa, forward Cassy Lozano and defender Monika Mesa.
“I have experienced a lot with this team,” Ibarra said. “It’s an honor to play with these girls. I’ve learned a lot. It’s just amazing to be with them on the field — talking to them, having that communication and getting along. It’s very good. The practices with our coaches and the plays we work on make it very good, too.”
Lady Falcons coach Patricia K. Hernandez is assisted by Juan Luna and Ivan Estrada.
“This team poses a threat to the rest of the Valley heading into the regional tournament (April 8-9),” said Hernandez, who was born in the Valley and grew up in Elgin, Illinois, before returning to attend the University of Texas at Brownsville. “Our primary goal in mind is getting back to regionals. Even though we’re young, I feel we can’t be discounted. We have a lot of talent to put in great competition.
“We look forward to playing Laredo United South. We’re busy preparing for them, and we just want to take it one game at a time. Persistence and aggressiveness are the keys for us.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess