By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
With district competition just around the corner, Rio Grande Valley soccer teams are gearing up for the next phase of the 2016 season.
That was the idea behind Tuesday’s non-district girls matchup between Hanna and McAllen Memorial at Hanna. The Lady Mustangs are ranked No. 3 in the Valley by RGVSports.com and Hanna is No. 10, so the game figured to be a solid predistrict test for each team.
McAllen Memorial and Hanna have met in the playoffs during each of the past two seasons with the Lady Mustangs winning by narrow scores both times.
This time, it was a victory for Hanna as the Lady Golden Eagles converted a late second-half goal to triumph 1-0. A high ball from the right side by Hanna’s Giselle Pina bounced in with seven minutes remaining to determine the outcome.
The next games for each team will be district openers as Hanna starts 32-6A play next Tuesday and McAllen Memorial begins 30-6A play Jan. 29.
“I think our girls played a lot harder,” Hanna coach Jose Morales said. “They played with their hearts, and they wanted to get this win at home, especially because Memorial got us last year (1-0 during the second round of the playoffs). It was going to be a little battle.
“A win is always very welcome before starting district,” Morales added.
After a scoreless first half, things became somewhat more active on the offensive ends during the final 40 minutes, particularly for Hanna.
However, the Lady Eagles had to fend off a flurry of opportune shots by the visitors five minutes into the second half. Then Hanna began to make its presence felt more decisively at the other end of the field.
During the minutes leading up to Pina’s goal, Hanna came up just short on several promising opportunities with time winding down.
It was a match each team was eager to play.
“We had been wanting to play Hanna (in non-district action) since last year (because of the quality of the two teams),” Lady Mustangs coach Matthew Kaiser said. “Coach Morales and I set it up. We would have liked to have had a few more days coming off our tournament last weekend (in Corpus Christi) because we’re definitely banged up.
“We had a couple of girls who are normal starters that didn’t play tonight and another one who was a game-time decision tonight that didn’t play,” Kaiser added. “Two more went off the field (injured) tonight and didn’t come back, so we’re pretty banged up.
“We do have some time off now, so hopefully we can get healthy again before it counts (in district). If everybody gets healthy and we can put the lineup that we have on the field, we feel good about having a strong team and having a chance at making another run.”
The Lady Mustangs, defending 30-6A champions and Region IV-6A Tournament qualifiers last season, were coming off a third-place finish at their tournament last weekend in Corpus Christi.
The Lady Eagles reached the championship quarterfinals of last weekend’s 17th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament at Brownsville Sports Park.