McALLEN — McAllen High’s Vicente Alvarez waited three years to make his playoff debut. The Bulldogs missed the postseason during the first three years of Alvarez’s career.
The long-awaited debut finally came Friday when McHi hosted Donna North in the Class 5A bi-district matchup.
After shaking off some first-half jitters, Alvarez delivered a memorable debut performance, netting a pair of second-half goals, including the go-ahead score with 13 minutes left, to lead the Bulldogs past the Chiefs 3-2 during a Class 5A bi-district matchup at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“I won’t lie, the first half I was angry with myself because I wasn’t playing at the level I knew I could,” Alvarez said. “At halftime, I spoke with the boys. We had a lot of motivational words as a team. Second half we turned on our engines and realized we’re dawgs for a reason. Honestly, if it wasn’t for my boys those goals wouldn’t have come so all glory goes to them.”
Trailing 1-0 at the break, Alvarez sparked McHi’s comeback with his first goal, tying the contest on a successful penalty attempt following a handball by Donna North.
The lead came just 10 minutes later, with senior Leo Salinas powering a shot past the goalkeeper with a pair of defenders draped all over him.
The Bulldogs’ advantage was short-lived, with Donna North forward Melvin Gomez tying the game less than a minute later, sending a right-footed shot into the top left corner of the net.
Not looking to go into overtime, Alvarez sealed McHi’s victory on a beautiful give-and-go play with sophomore Alan Martinez, taking a pass from the midfielder in stride into the box and finishing the play with a left-footed strike for the game-winner. The goal also set a new school record, marking Alvarez’s 32nd score of the year.
“At halftime I told Alan that whenever he had the ball, it was a triangle,” Alvarez said. “I told him if I play it to him to look back for me because I’m making a run. As I was making this run, I was open in space. All these boys know that during practice I make a diagonal run. I made it there. He read me and I read him and I was able to hit the bottom left with my weak foot. It was gorgeous.”
The victory marks the first playoff victory for McAllen High since 2016. They’ll face off against District 30-5A champions La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at a date, time and location to be determined.
