BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
The first full night of the RGV soccer playoffs brought plenty of upsets. A common line from coaches is “anything can happen in the postseason.” Some coaches whose teams knocked off higher seeds weighed in on how their teams made “anything happen.”
District 31-6A’s fourth seed, the Edinburg High girls, had a Goliath task taking on powerhouse Los Fresnos.
Friday night was windy, which gave a clear advantage to teams when the gusts were at their back rather than in their face. After Edinburg was able to hold the District 32-6A champions off the scoreboard as the Falcons had the wind, the Bobcats started to believe.
“In the first half, we were going against the wind. So, at halftime, the girls were talking amongst themselves saying, ‘We got this. We just have to keep playing our game and doing what we’ve been doing: creating, free-kicks and set plays,’” Edinburg High coach Cerjio Elizarraraz said. “It was at halftime that we realized that they felt they could play with that team.
“We had to pressure them. We had to find a way to pressure their offense or their midfield, their defenders, whoever had the ball. That was probably the main thing. The girls never stopped running all night long.”
The Bobcats finally broke through in the extra time period, when Regina Monroy took a shot that the Falcons’ keeper mishandled.
In McAllen, both McAllen Rowe teams emerged victorious in a doubleheader against 29-6A champs Laredo United.
The girls’ team put in a strong defensive performance, and Hethyr Moore kept the Longhorns off the scoreboard. The bi-district match was decided after overtime, in winner-take-all penalty kicks.
After the girls’ team pulled the upset, the boys were center stage on the Rowe field.
Laredo United scored first, but Rowe boys coach Jose Jimenez said his team was ready for the opponents, scoring the next two.
“Our strategy, it worked,” Jimenez said. “I knew they were going to be in our defensive third, but we knew what to do. We knew their rotation.”
The game was tied twice — first at 1-1 and then when United responded to make the score 2-2.
A goal on a penalty and finally a breakaway goal from Cesar Hernandez sealed the deal to knock off the No. 1 seed.
“I always feel that good teams don’t respect the not-so-good teams,” Jimenez said of his opponents. “They keep on doing exactly the same deal. They don’t have to adjust or readjust because they rely too much on the knowledge of the system. They continue because they know they have the players or system that’s going to pull.”
Hernandez had two goals, while Diego Gil and Brandon Vasquez scored the other two.
The win marked the first playoff victory for the Rowe boys’ team since a 2007 victory over Laredo Martin.
Rowe’s boys and girls advance to Tuesday’s area round with another doubleheader on home field, this time against the Harlingen South Hawks.
The upper Valley wasn’t immune to being on the wrong side of an upset. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln boys, which scored 65 goals in district play, were unable to put one past Laredo United South. The Huskies lost 1-0 at La Joya ISD Stadium.
With La Joya High and McAllen Memorial also dropping their bi-district matchups, the Rowe boys team is the last team standing from a competitive 30-6A field that is without staple playoff team Mission High.
On Thursday, another district champion was shut out when the Edinburg North girls lost to Harlingen High 3-0. Second-seed Edinburg Vela and third-placed Donna North also lost, leaving EHS as the lone girls team still standing from 31-6A.