LA JOYA — Prior to this season, the La Joya Juarez-Lincoln Huskies hadn’t lost a district contest in nearly four years, going 54-0-2 during that span.
The Huskies saw their streak of 1,457 days without a loss snapped this season, falling 4-2 against Mission High during a District 31-6A contest on Feb. 1. Two weeks later, Juarez-Lincoln was handed their second district loss during a 5-3 defeat against Edinburg High.
The loss opened the door for the rest of the district’s teams to dethrone the reigning district champs, a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in six years.
Things changed for the Huskies after their game against Edinburg High, however, going on a seven-game winning streak to close out the year, securing their sixth straight district crown.
The Huskies look to continue their hot play into the postseason, beginning with a Region IV-6A bi-district contest against Los Fresnos at 7 p.m. Friday at Leo Aguilar Stadium in Los Fresnos.
“It actually helped us become better to be honest,” La Joya Juarez-Lincoln striker Fernando Ortuño said. “It motivated us to start a new streak. We just talked about turning the page and getting better. We weren’t going to let those losses affect us. It was about getting better as a team.”
Offensively, the Huskies had six players score five or more goals this season, led by Ortuño’s district-leading 20 goals.
Ortuño played a key role during the Huskies’ winning streak, scoring 13 of his 20 goals during that span.
“He’s one of those players who sacrifices a lot,” La Joya Juarez-Lincoln head coach Victor Ramos said. “He runs up and down the field. He’s strong. On top of that, he’s been our top goal scorer. He’s just a complete player.”
Juarez-Lincoln held opponents to just 17 goals during district play, tied for the lowest in the district with Edinburg North.
The Huskies are anchored by seniors in Alberto Medrano, Juan Gonzalez and Kevin Garcia. The trio helped Juarez-Lincoln flip a switch defensively during the back end of the season, allowing just four goals over their final seven games.
“Our defense has been very consistent,” Ramos said. “Those games that we lost, we made a lot of errors. Each of those, we’ve tried to correct them. It seems like we’re in a position defensively where we’ve been playing better.”
The Huskies feel ready going into the postseason, riding a seven-game winning streak since their last loss Feb. 18
“After the loss, we relaxed a little,” Ramos said. “We started to feel less pressure and just played our style of soccer. We started to get players that were injured back too. We began to play together more. Now, I think we’re in a good place.”
