By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Three games into the District 32-6A boys soccer race, the Rivera Raiders are still undefeated and leading the competition.
The Raiders have a 3-0 record with eight points after defeating San Benito 3-0 Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium. The Greyhounds are now 1-2 with three points.
It was a successful night for both home teams at Sams as the Rivera girls rallied to win 3-1 against the Lady Greyhounds in the nightcap of the 32-6A doubleheader.
A light drizzle fell throughout both matches and made field conditions wet.
Yet, Rivera boys coach Salvador Garcia had no complaints about the weather. He and his team like the view from atop the 32-6A standings.
“Right now, we’re in the driver’s seat, and that’s where we want to be,” Garcia said. “We don’t want to depend on anyone else.
“I felt that we played our best second half of the season tonight,” Garcia added. “If we can continue taking baby steps and getting better, I’ll take that.”
The outcome of the match was pretty much decided with just under seven minutes left in the first half. That’s when the Raiders scored a pair of goals within a 25-second span to lead 2-0 at intermission.
The Greyhounds were giving a strong effort and keeping the Raiders off the scoreboard until Rivera’s Julian Espinoza received a pass, dribbled down the middle, broke away from two defenders and beat the San Benito goalkeeper with a one-on-one shot from about 12 yards out for a 1-0 lead.
Just 25 seconds later, still with a little more than six minutes to go before intermission, Rivera’s Edgar Salazar blasted in a shot from about 30 yards away on the right side to make it 2-0.
“Thank God we got the win tonight, but we have to learn from our mistakes and keep getting better every game,” said Espinoza, a senior midfielder who now has scored 17 goals this season. “We have to play with teamwork every time. If we play that way, we’ll get better and better.”
Rivera’s Jose Muniz sealed the victory by scoring from the left side with just under 17 minutes remaining to increase the lead to 3-0.
The Raiders had a shot go off the crossbar with nine minutes left, but by then, it didn’t matter.
Meanwhile, the Rivera girls quickly found themselves down 1-0 following an early goal by the Lady Greyhounds. The Lady Raiders tied it 1-1 early in the second half on a goal by Alexis Sayas.
The Rivera girls scored two goals in the final 10 minutes to win 3-1.
First, Leslie Pena rocketed a shot into the goal from about 20 yards away to make it 2-1 as the clock ticked under 10 minutes. Then, with just under a minute left, Sayas took a corner kick from the left side and Pena headed it in for the 3-1 final score.
“It was a difficult game despite the weather,” Rivera girls coach Peter A. Rodriguez said. “San Benito was playing a very good defensive game. We just needed to shoot the ball a lot more. That’s what we tried to do in the second half.
“We got a little more confidence as the second half started going,” Rodriguez added. “Our girls knew they needed to win. Hopefully this win will bring us some momentum for the games that are ahead.”
The Lady Raiders improved to 2-1 with five points, while the Lady Greyhounds slipped to 1-2 with three points.
District competition continues next Tuesday for both schools. Harlingen South’s boys and girls will be at San Benito and Rivera’s teams will be at Weslaco High.