By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s Queens soccer team wasn’t ready to go one-and-done in this year’s playoffs.
In a match that was described by Del Rio head coach Wilber Rivas as, “Intense,” the Queens edged San Antonio Harlan, 1-0, to win their Bi-District playoff match Friday night and advance to the Area round of the playoffs.
The Queens were part of a Del Rio playoff double-header at San Antonio’s Gustafson Stadium and had to follow an exciting 3-2 extra-time win by the Rams over San Antonio O’Connor.
And like the match that was played before them, the Queens and Harlan battled in a scoreless chess match for more than an hour before Del Rio finally broke through as senior midfielder/forward Cassandra Ochoa scored the match’s only goal on a penalty kick in the second half.
Del Rio spent the remainder of the match keeping the Hawks at bay, but when the final buzzer sounded the Queens celebrated their first playoff win since the 2016 season.
The Queens, the District 30-6A champions, will next face Edinburg Vela, the runners up from District 31-6A. Vela defeated Harlingen South, 1-0, in its Bi-District playoff game.
Details about Del Rio’s Area round playoff game were not announced as of press time.
The 1-0 result was the first time all season the Queens won a regular season match by just one goal. It was also Del Rio’s 13th straight match without a loss and the team’s fifth straight win and fifth straight shutout.
Del Rio was the only 30-6A girls team to advance past the first round of the playoffs. Runners-up Laredo United were routed by San Antonio Taft, 8-1; third place Laredo Nixon was crushed by San Antonio O’Connor, 9-2; and fourth seed Laredo United South were shutout by San Antonio Brennan, 8-0.
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