By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
The Rivera Lady Raiders didn’t have to come from behind this time.
A goal during the 17th minute by Brigitte Iglesias from approximately 25 yards out stood the rest of the way to give the Lady Raiders a 1-0 triumph over McAllen Rowe on Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium in the Class 6A regional quarterfinals.
It was the most important victory in the history of the Lady Raiders’ soccer program as they now advance to the Region IV-6A Tournament for the first time.
The Lady Raiders had to rally from a 2-0 deficit to win their area-round game 3-2 Tuesday against McAllen Memorial in McAllen.
The Rivera girls now play Austin Lake Travis or Austin Westlake next Friday in the regional tournament semifinals at San Antonio’s Blossom Athletic Center.
When an opportunity to score came her way, Iglesias, a sophomore attacking midfielder, took advantage of it.
“The second the ball came to me, I thought to myself, ‘You know, I have to put this in because we have to win so we can go to San Antonio,’” Iglesias said. “I just kicked it with all I had to the (right) corner (on a high arc). It was beautiful. It went right in.
“We’re making history,” she added. “It’s so amazing.”
When Iglesias scored, Lady Raiders coach Peter A. Rodriguez immediately wanted another goal.
“At that point (leading 1-0), my thought was we need to go for more,” he said. “Unluckily, it didn’t happen. We came close to scoring again, but didn’t. (Still) all you need to win is just one goal, so it’s good that we did that.”
Rivera becomes the third Brownsville girls soccer team to advance to the regional tournament. The others were the Hanna girls in 2003 and the Lopez girls in 2014.
The Lady Raiders have gone from being the fourth-place team in District 32-6A to a team qualifying for the fourth round of the playoffs as one of 16 teams remaining in the 6A postseason.
The Lady Raiders actually lost 4-0 in non-district action at Rowe back in mid-January. Rowe ends the season as the third-place finisher from District 30-6A.
“It’s been a long process for us,” Rodriguez said. “We lost to Rowe a week before district started, but we beat them in the third round of the playoffs when it counted most. That for me is an amazing thing for the girls to accomplish. It’s something they’re going to remember for the rest of their lives.”
The entire Lady Raiders squad embraced the 1-0 victory and celebrated with their families and the Rivera fans.
“I’m more than blessed to have this amazing feeling,” said Alyssa Ayala, a junior midfielder for the Lady Raiders. “We’re making a name for ourselves and we’re making history big-time.”