Falcons get big district win over Hawks

The Los Fresnos Falcons traveled to Harlingen and picked up a key District 32-6A win over the South Hawks.

Los Fresnos used a strong second half to pick up a 3-1 win, putting the Falcons in first place in the district with a few games remaining. The Falcons played with urgency and stayed focused in a physical, playoff-feeling contest to pull away and avenge the shootout loss to South from the first round.

“We’re now two points in front of them, but we have three games to go and I don’t think they’re going to lose another district game, so we have to win them all. It’s not over,” Falcons coach Michael Miller said. “I wanted to be able to evaluate my boys to see if they’re ready for the playoffs. I knew this would be the atmosphere, and I wanted to see who I could trust. It was a great performance. The boys really stepped up, especially in the second half. I’m just so proud of them right now.”

Even though both teams got one goal on the scoreboard during the first 40 minutes, the first half belonged to the goalkeepers. South’s Ricardo Montoya and Los Fresnos’ Frankie Melendez made highlight save after highlight save to keep both aggressive offensive attacks at bay.

South’s Anthony Villines got the Hawks on the board first with 15 minutes remaining in the first half. The Hawks passed well and used speed up the sideline to set up scoring chances. Alejandro Sanchez, Carlos Hernandez and Joaquin Ovalle played well to keep South in control during the first half.

Los Fresnos’ Jorge Hernandez tied the game with a goal in the 22nd minute. The physicality picked up during the final 10 minutes of the half as both teams pushed the ball down the field and played tight defense to try to gain an edge.

“The message at halftime was we have to toughen up,” Miller said. “We got pushed around a little bit … we just had to focus on playing soccer, and we knew if we do what we do best, we’re the better team and we’d find a way, and that’s what happened.”

The Falcons came out fast in the second half and sent some good shots to the net, but Montoya showed he was a bit better. He got up to block high kicks and came out to stymie Los Fresnos’ attempts to get on top.

But solid play from Jesus Ramirez, Adrian Longoria, Joe Garza and a trio of sophomores in Ivan Galvan, Kevin Zamora and Romauldo Gonzalez came up big during the second half. Galvan scored a pair of goals in the half to give Los Fresnos a 3-1 advantage. The Falcons’ defense stepped up during the final minutes to keep South from capitalizing on chances its speed and solid defensive effort created.

“There’s a certain want that you have to have in order to be a champion, and they showed that today,” Miller said. “They scored the first goal on us, we’re down at their place, and now you’re going to see — are you going to put your head down and feel sorry for yourself, or are you going to come back and respond? And they responded, and now we’re in a good position going into the last week and a half of the year.”

South coach Julian Robles was proud of the way his team competed. He was pleased with the passing and defense, but a few mistakes turned the game. South also drew a lot of whistles from the officials, particularly as it fought to come back in the second.

“Los Fresnos is a great team, and you can’t play against a great team and expect to make mistakes and win the game,” Robles said. “You can’t miss scoring opportunities, marking opportunities, defensive opportunities. That was one of the biggest downfalls. We played better (in the) first half. We made some adjustments and got a little closer, put some pressure on them, but they did a great job defensively and held us back. Going into the playoffs, these are the kinds of games you need (in order) to prepare.”

GIRLS

HARLINGEN SOUTH 1, LOS FRESNOS 0, OT

The Lady Hawks defeated the Lady Falcons after the boys game.

Lady Hawks coach Omar Pedroza said the team has struggled with injuries this season, and not being healthy and fully equipped has left it coming up short in some close games. South lost to Los Fresnos in overtime during the first round of District 32-6A action, but stellar saves from goalkeeper Dell Davis and a relentless offensive attack eventually picked up a win for the Lady Hawks.

Sandra Lopez, Korynne Reininger, Sarah Grace Flores-Garza and Alexis Fonseca played well to lead the Lady Hawks. South passed well and raced along the sideline to create scoring chances, but it couldn’t find the net during the first 80 minutes. In the third minute of the first overtime period, Flores-Garza finished a drive to the net to put the Lady Hawks on top. A consistently strong effort in goal from Davis kept Los Fresnos scoreless during the final 10-minute overtime period.

“This is great because we really needed this game. We’re fighting for a playoff spot,” Pedroza said. “We’re finally getting healthier. We had some people that were hurt, and we’re getting those kids to almost 100 percent and it shows. Everybody played well tonight. It was just a total team effort. When we play the way we played tonight and everybody gives 110 percent, we’re probably one of the better teams in our district.”

[email protected]