DOWNED SOUTH

SAN ANTONIO - Close, heart-breakingly close, but no chance to play for the Region IV championship.
An undermanned Harlingen South battled and put a scare into San Antonio Reagan, before falling 2-1 to a questionable penalty call inside the last five minutes of the game Friday at Blossom Athletic Center in San Antonio.
With the game 1-1 and increasingly looking like it was heading to overtime and a likely shootout, the Lady Rattlers earned a penalty when a shot from Cassedy Christopher struck South defender Kristin Fennegan on the upper leg and the bounced up and hit her in the hand.
"That's a hard call to lose a game on, said South central defender Maddie Reyes, who was composed and elegant at the back for the Lady Hawks. "It looked like it was ball to hand, not hand to ball."
South coach Omar Pedroza, who has been forced by injuries to make adjustments to his formation every time he turns around during the last week, didn't like the call either.
"That's not the way to decide a game like this," he said. "It's not like she reached for the ball with her hand."
Reagan's Sarah Vasquez had no compunctions about taking the kick and slotted the ball past South ‘keeper Jackie Lightner into the top right corner. It was the third penalty South has given up in the last three games.
Reagan took the lead with a late first half goal by Erica Carlson. South equalized in the second half on a penalty kick by Sarah Flores, after a wonderful run by Claudia Torres, ended with the South freshman being fouled in the penalty area.
South started the game minus speedy forward Abby Saldivar, who scored seven goals in her last playoff outing, before getting hurt against McAllen and midfielder/forward Zariah Noyola, hurt earlier in the year.
And then to add injury to injury, the Lady Hawks lost central midfielder Pat Torres to a knee injury inside the game's first minute. Torres is the motor in the center of the pitch for the Lady Hawks and her loss altered the way South could play.
That basically put South on its heels for much of the first half and the Lady Hawks defended fiercely and while Reagan (21-2-2) had most of the possession, they rarely troubled Lightner.
However, with 5:39 left in the first half, Carlson looped a header towards the South goal and while Lightner got both hands on it, she couldn't keep it out of the net and Reagan took a 1-0 edge at the half.
Reagan expected the Lady Hawks to fold in the second half and you could see the frustration start among the Lady Rattlers as the Lady Hawks came out with a renewed determination in the first half.
There was more crunch in the tackles and Caitlin Fennegan, Claudia Torres and Flores started to run at the Reagan defenders more often.
About seven minutes into the second half, Torres picked up the ball just inside the half and just ran at the Lady Rattlers' defense. She dribbled past three defenders and got inside the penalty box where she was hacked down by Georgia Mullins.
Flores didn't hesitate from the spot and the Lady Hawks were even at 1-1 with 33:36 left in the game.
A few minutes later, Torres almost gave South the lead with a long shot that just skimmed over the bar.
Reagan still contolled possession, but South was dangerous on the break. However, the Lady Hawks escaped twice thanks to Lightner and Kristen Fennegan. With about 28 minutes left, a mix-up in the South defense left Reagan's Alex Burton with an open net. However, she didn't strike her shot firmly enough and Kristen Fennegan was able to clear the ball off the goalline. A few minutes later, Lightner blocked a close-range shot from Reagan's Holly Hernandez.
However, she could do little with Vasquez's penalty and South (30-3-1) suffered a loss as equally as frustrating as the shootout lose to MacArthur in 2005.
"Sometimes, we just can't get a break," said Pedroza. "I'm not making excuses, but if we had been full strength it would have been a different story."
With the win, Reagan will meet San Antonio MacArthur, who beat Edinburg North, 5-0, in today's regional championship game.