Lady Coyotes capture Dog Pound Tournament
SAN BENITO — It’s a wonderful feeling to win a soccer tournament for the first time. Just ask the La Joya High Lady Coyotes.
La Joya High defeated Mission Veterans 3-1 on Saturday at Bobby Morrow Stadium to capture the championship of the San Benito Dog Pound Tournament.
"To my knowledge, I don’t recall us ever doing something like this," said Lupe Moreno, the Lady Coyotes’ fourth-year coach. "It’s sweet to get a (tournament) title like this. We’ll be going into our District (30-5A) opener on Monday (at home against Donna) coming off this win, and it’ll help us a lot.
"This is a pretty young group of girls," he added. "They’re always working hard, and they’re determined to win."
Playing 20-minute halves, La Joya High scored a pair of goals against a stiff wind during the final five minutes to earn the victory after each team scored one goal in the opening period.
"I feel great because it’s the first time we’ve ever gone out and won a (tournament) championship," said Denise Molina, the Lady Coyotes’ sophomore center midfielder who tallied a goal and recorded an assist in the final. "I’m glad we did it this year."
Even though they didn’t win the championship, the Lady Patriots were feeling pretty good, too. It was their first time to play in a tournament final.
To reach the title game, Mission Veterans defeated San Benito via a shootout (3-2), while the Lady Coyotes prevailed over Harlingen South in a shootout (2-1) in the semifinals. San Benito was the defending tournament champion and South won the event two years ago.
"Our girls did an outstanding job," Mission Veterans coach Sonia Mireles said. "They showed up and played their game. It’s just an awesome feeling because we’d never advanced (this far) before. This is the first time ever."
In the championship, the Lady Patriots scored first when Daniela Cardoza sent a well-placed free kick into the net from 25 yards barely 6 1/2 minutes into the match. The Lady Coyotes answered two minutes later when Denise Molina put the ball in play on a corner kick taken from the left side. The ball came to Leslie Augusto, who punched it in from 10 yards for a 1-1 tie.
The score remained deadlocked until five minutes remained.
Denise Molina put the Lady Coyotes ahead for good when she outraced two defenders to the ball down the middle. She dribbled in close and drilled the ball into the left corner of the goal. Then, with a little more than three minutes left, Amy Molina, Denise’s sister, attacked from the right side and sent a strong shot into the same corner of the net to make it 3-1.
In their semifinal victory over South, Alondra Garza and Jessica Dominguez tallied shootout goals for the Lady Coyotes. Leading the Lady Patriots with shootout goals against San Benito were Alissa Castañeda, Ale Castillo and Evelyn Ochoa.
Roy Hess writes for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.
