Lady Huskies take home first tournament championship trophy

The La Joya Juarez-Lincoln girls are soccer tournament champions for the first time.

In an all-District 61-4A matchup, the Lady Huskies defeated the Roma Lady Gladiators 1-0 in Saturday’s Brownsville ISD Tournament final at Brownsville Sports Park.

“It feels really good because this is the first time we’ve won (a tournament),” said senior defender Brenda Piña, the Lady Huskies’ captain. “I think we won because we’re closer now, we understand each other more and we like playing together.

“A win like this is going to give people more reason to notice our school,” she added. “I’m very proud of my team, and I hope the goals keep coming in district.”

Sometimes, a missed penalty kick comes back to haunt a team, but that wasn’t the case for Juarez-Lincoln. The Lady Huskies were awarded a penalty following a tripping call on the Lady Gladiators midway through the first half. The shot went toward the left post and was deflected away from the goal by the Roma goalkeeper.

That disappointment for the Lady Huskies was erased when Juarez-Lincoln’s Selena Martinez tallied the lone goal of the match with five minutes left in the first half. The ball came in on a long free kick and Martinez got a foot on it, which made the ball take a high bounce that carried over the Roma goalkeeper, who appeared to get her fingertips on it but not prevent it from going into the net.

“Selena just poked her foot out and it made the ball go a little higher,” Juarez-Lincoln coach Alex Davila said. “The goalie overcommitted and it went over her head.”

Davila said the best tournament showing he could remember for the Lady Huskies prior to Saturday was a third-place finish in a Beeville tournament last season.

“Considering the overall picture, since we’ve never done this before, yes, it makes it pretty special,” he said. “This is a good, young group that we have, and I’m very proud of them. Doing something like this means a lot to our community and to our school.”

Ana Corbix, a sophomore outside midfielder for the Lady Huskies, was named tournament MVP.

Juarez-Lincoln went through the two-day, 16-team tournament with four wins while not allowing a goal. On Friday, the Lady Huskies triumphed over Brownsville Veterans Memorial 5-0 and Brownsville Hanna 2-0 before defeating Harlingen South 2-0 in the semifinals earlier Saturday to earn their place in the final.

Roma opened the tournament Friday with a 4-1 win over Lyford and a 2-1 triumph on penalties over Brownsville Porter. On Saturday, the Lady Gladiators defeated McAllen Memorial 3-1 in the semifinals.

Harlingen South took the third-place trophy with a 1-0 victory over Memorial on a first-half goal by Amanda Aguirre. La Joya High captured the consolation championship with a 1-0 victory over Valley View.

Roy Hess writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.