Falcons prevail in strong test against Gladiators

LOS FRESNOS — Neither the Los Fresnos Falcons nor the Roma Gladiators wanted Tuesday’s non-district soccer game at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium to end in a tie.

So after 80 minutes of regulation play resulted in a scoreless deadlock, the two teams decided to settle the issue with penalty kicks.

The Falcons made a pair of penalties to none for the Gladiators, giving Los Fresnos the victory, officially recorded as a 1-0 triumph.

“We were both here (to decide a winner), and we said, ‘Let’s go for it,’ ” Los Fresnos coach Javier Navarrete said of the two teams’ decision to go to penalty kicks.

The Gladiators and Falcons played each other on even terms throughout the match, and Los Fresnos even had a shot go off the crossbar with two minutes left in regulation. Roma had several good chances to score, too.

So with no score, it took penalties to decide a winner. Roma went first, and neither of its two players who took penalties could convert. The first Roma penalty attempt hit the right post and bounced away, while the second attempt sailed high. Meanwhile, Miguel Cruz, a sophomore forward-midfielder, and Jonathan Valdez, a sophomore forward, each planted the ball in the net with authority for the Falcons, securing the win.

“I feel that we got a lot out of this game,” Navarrete said. “Roma did really well against the academy (Austin St. Stephen’s) and (Brownsville) Rivera in the Brownsville (ISD) Tournament, so we knew they were going to be a good measing stick for us. By playing 40-minute halves against a team like Roma, it helps us see where our players are at tactically and physically as far as conditioning.

“Our guys did really well tonight, and I’m proud of them,” he added. “They didn’t lose their heads (when the game was close). It’s a young team. We have only two seniors, so it’s good to see where we’re at with our district getting ready to start.

“We wanted to have some strong teams on our non-district schedule because it will prepare us for 32-5A, where every game is going to be a playoff game.”

Los Fresnos was coming off a strong showing in last weekend’s Hidalgo-Valley View Tournament, where the Falcons went 4-2-1 in pool play and tied for second place in their pool, but were edged on a tiebreaker that prevented them from advancing to the tournament semifinals. Roma was coming off last Friday’s 1-1 tie with La Joya High.

“We’ve been playing some real tough Class 5A schools and tying some of them and beating some of them,” Roma coach Joe Cortez said. “We hope to use these non-district games as a springboard to our district. Hopefully, we’ll be ready.

“To me,” he added. “the guys look ready right now, and every coach we play against tells me we have a good team, so we should be ready when district comes around (next month). I think we’ll be in the thick of things.”

The Gladiators next play in the La Joya Tournament beginning Friday. Los Fresnos is open Friday and next plays at La Joya Juarez-Lincoln on Tuesday.

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