By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
The Porter Cowgirls did their part to finish at least second place in the District 32-5A girls soccer race.
A 3-1 win against Mercedes on Monday at home allowed the Porter girls to finish the 32-5A competition with a 10-4 record and 33 points.
The result gives them at least 32-5A’s second-place playoff, and depending on the outcome of Monday’s Pace-PSJA Southwest match in Pharr, a share of the district title.
“We were just going to try to do our part (by winning this match),” said Cowgirls coach Abraham Gracia, who has guided his team to the postseason for the first time in the history of Porter’s girls soccer program. “That’s just what I told the girls. I said, ‘Let’s do our part and leave the rest to God. That’s all we can do. If He wants us first, we’ll be first. If He wants us second, we’ll be second.’
“I still think our girls have a lot more in them (for the playoffs. Yes, it gave us a boost (to lead 1-0 at halftime tonight), but I think there’s more in them. It still feels pretty good to win this one.”
Priscila Cortinas’ goal 12 minutes into the match gave the Cowgirls a 1-0 advantage that stood until teammate Hilda Valdivieso’s second-half tally increased the lead to 2-0.
With 16 minutes left, the Lady Tigers (4-10, 13 points) made things interesting by scoring to close the gap to 2-1.
But Porter’s Lizbeth Garcia gave her team some cushion and a 3-1 lead by scoring on a header off a corner kick from the right side by Alexis Vega with just 2 1/2 minutes left.
“It felt great and it was amazing (to score like that),” Garcia said. “It was all because of my teammates. We all did this and got the win, so it just feels amazing.”