ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The first day of the inaugural South Texas Futbol Showcase got off to a solid start on Thursday.
Highlighting first-day action were a couple of closely contested matches at Rivera.
The host Raiders, playing on their new artificial turf field, trailed 1-0 most of the way against city rival Lopez until they rallied late to edge the Lobos 2-1. Also at Rivera, the Porter Cowboys led early 2-0, fell behind 3-2 and scored with three minutes remaining to gain a 3-3 tie with La Joya Juarez-Lincoln.
The 18-team, three-day soccer event continues today at Rivera, Hanna and Los Fresnos’ Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium with games starting at 10 a.m. There are three full 80-minute games per day at each of the three sites, including Saturday as well.
The Rivera-Lopez match was staged in true Brownsville rivalry tradition as it was played with a lot of intensity and attracted a near-capacity crowd.
Matchups in soccer between the Brownsville high schools tend to feature those qualities, and Thursday’s game was no exception.
Rivera coach Salvador Garcia had mixed feelings about the victory.
“We didn’t really play with our style of soccer, but we have to give credit to Lopez for the way they were playing against us,” Garcia said. “We played more with heart than skills today. It was one of those 50-50 games (that could have gone either way). We got lucky (with our two goals) at the end.
“Any time you get a positive result it’s good, but playing the way we did, it was kind of bittersweet for us,” Garcia added. “Yes, we won, but not playing the soccer (style) that we’re supposed to play and that we have played before.”
The Rivera coach said because of the match’s intensity and good-sized crowd on hand, it felt like the first bonafide Brownsville vs. Brownsville matchup of the new UIL season.
“We’re getting closer to the district season and teams are getting better and better,” Garcia said. “I think from now on, any time a Brownsville team plays another Brownsville team, it’s going to be this way.
“The players know each other from playing in different outside city leagues,” he added. “Of course, they want to have bragging rights for their high school (so they play extra hard against each other). That’s just the way it is. It’s always nice to see after the games when the players (on opposing teams) go back to being friends because it’s always just a game with both sides wanting to win (so bad).
“From now on, every team is wanting to win because we’re getting so close to the start of district (in another week or so).”
Lopez’s Guadalupe Sauceda scored a goal midway through the first half that gave the Lobos a 1-0 advantage. The lead lasted until late in the game. With under 10 minutes remaining, Rivera’s J.P. Garza bounced a shot into an open net from about 25 yards away to tie the score.
Barely a minute later, Rivera’s Jorge Castillo sent a shot toward the goal from about 15 yards away. It also took a bounce and went into the left corner of the net as the goalkeeper was caught out of position. A Lopez defender rushed toward the ball to try to prevent its trajectory into the net, but didn’t arrive in time.
Five minutes later, the match ended with the Raiders as winners.
The Cowboys-Huskies game also went down to the end.
“These are the types of matches you want your team to play,” Porter coach Jose Espitia said.
Early first-half goals by Oscar Garcia and Brandon Montes put the Cowboys ahead 2-0. But just before halftime, the Huskies made it 2-1 and then converted a penalty kick seconds before intermission to deadlock the score at 2.
The match remained tied until Juarez-Lincoln went up 3-2 with seven minutes left. Porter’s Garcia sent a high, arcing shot from the right side into the left corner of the net with three minutes to go, tying the score again as the game soon ended 3-3.
Thursday’s first game at Rivera saw Harlingen South defeat PSJA High 2-1.
At Hanna, San Benito downed Jubilee Brownsville 7-0, Hanna topped Laredo United 3-1 and Pace shut out Edinburg Vela 3-0.
At Los Fresnos, the host Falcons beat Edinburg Economedes 2-0, Edinburg North blanked La Joya High 1-0 and Brownsville Veterans Memorial defeated McAllen High 5-1.