By Brian Argabright
Del Rio’s march to a girls’ soccer district championship continues unabated.
The Queens took down a tough Laredo United squad in back-to-back matches Monday and Wednesday to remain unbeaten on the season. The wins also gives the Queens 15 points in district play and moves them one step closer to the district crown that eluded them last season when the COVID-19 pandemic brought an end to the season with two matches left to play.
Del Rio won Monday’s match at home, 2-1. The Queens trailed 1-0 in the first half when United connected on a free kick from about 30 yards out that sailed above the wall and into the top right corner of the net.
From there, it was a fight for Del Rio to get back into the match.
“We kept fighting and making plays but could not get a clear shot on goal,” Queens head coach Wilber Rivas said.
With about a minute left to play in the half, Ema Rojas beat her defender one-on-one and buried a shot past the United goalkeeper for the equalizer, leaving the score 1-1 at halftime.
Del Rio’s defense kept the match close in the second half and clamped down on any scoring chances for the Lady Longhorns.
“Our defense did a great job, but we could not break United’s defense. Every time we tried to go in with a center or combination play, the ball was intercepted. So we started taking shots from outside,” Rivas explained.
That strategy paid off as it was Rojas again finding the back of the next as she collected the ball and fired one off from about 30 yards out into the net for her second goal of the match and the eventual game winner.
Wednesday in Laredo it was much of the same, but this time Del Rio’s defense was just a little bit better.
The Queens shutout United, 2-0, to move to 5-0 in district and extend their unbeaten streak to 15 matches dating back to 2020.
After a 0-0 first half, the Queens found a game plan that worked. Midway through the second half, Rojas received the ball from the middle, dribbled to her right, took the last defender out one-on-one and then beat the goalie who had come out to challenge for the first goal of the match.
Ten minutes later, Rojas sealed the win thanks to an assist from Jadyn Casillas. Casillas sent a long pass ahead to Rojas who beat the goalkeeper and scored to make the final 2-0.
Del Rio will close out the first half of district play Friday in Laredo when they face the Laredo Nixon Lady Mustangs.
