By BRIAN ARGABRIGHT
The 830 Times
Del Rio’s quest to reach the state soccer tournament is over.
Both the Del Rio Rams and Queens soccer teams ended their playoff runs with the Queens bowing out in the bi-district round and the Rams coming up just short in the area round.
The Rams moved into the playoffs after a successful regular season that saw Del Rio win the District 30-6A title after leading the district in goals scored and finishing second in goals allowed.
First stop for the Rams was March 20 in a bi-district match in Hondo against San Marcos.
The first half of the match ended scoreless but both teams had their chances. It wasn’t until about midway through the second half that things began to heat up.
With 18:25 left to play San Marcos began the scoring with a goal. Del Rio nearly took the lead just prior to San Marco’s attack, but a heads up play by the defender and goalie helped turn a stop into a scoring opportunity as the Rattlers surged down the field and took the 1-0 lead.
A few minutes later, Jose Fernandez was taken down from behind and awarded a penalty kick. Poised to strike, Fernandez fired left while the Rattlers goalie dove right, giving the Rams the tying goal.
Del Rio nearly took the lead late in the match when an attack by the Rams led to a high shot on goal that struck the crossbar and bounced out of danger.
After a scoreless overtime, and a short rest, the teams’ best shooters returned for penalty kicks. The first round of kicks was best of five meaning that whichever team could successfully convert the most of five attempts would win. A tie meant the teams would move to a sudden death penalty kick period.
San Marcos was successful on its first try. Del Rio’s Luis Flores was next and appeared to have been initially stopped, but after a brief discussion the officials deemed San Marco’s goalie came off the line early and Flores was given another chance. This time he found some space in the bottom right of the goal and was on target to tie the kicks at 1-1.
San Marcos was successful on its second try, but Del Rio’s attempt went right at the goalie and was stopped.
San Marcos went up 3-1 with its next kick, but Del Rio’s Aaron Reyes made it 3-2 with a shot into the upper left of the goal.
San Marcos’ fourth shot was initially stopped, but again the officials ruled the goalie came off the line early. However, the second shot was also stopped. Del Rio then tied the kicks as Estevan Saucedo hit home in the lower left of the goal, making the tally 3-3.
San Marcos went ahead on its fifth kick, but the Rams tied it once more as Fernandez drilled his shot center high, just above the goalie, to bring an end to the first round of penalty kicks with a 4-4 score.
In sudden death, San Marcos again shot first but this time their shot to the lower right of the goal was no good and the Rams had a chance to grab the win. Jose Vielma took his spot, aimed and connected with a blast into the lower right of the goal. He stripped off his jersey and ran to the sideline to celebrate with his teammates as they advanced to area with the win.
The Area round took the Rams to San Antonio’s Alamo Stadium to battle Brownsville Veterans Memorial Tuesday.
Like the first match against San Marcos, scoring in regulation was scarce as the teams battled to a 0-0 score in the first half and for much of the second half. Then late in the match, Brownsville Veterans was awarded a corner kick. The set piece allowed the ball to drop into the near side where it was headed into the goal for what turned out to be the match’s lone score.
March 20 was also the date for the Queens’ bi-district match against New Braunfels Canyon.
Del Rio finished the regular season fourth overall but were looking for a fresh start in the postseason. The Queens played Canyon tough, ending the first half with a 0-0 score.
But Canyon got rolling in the second half. The team’s first goal came less than two minutes into the second half. It seemed like that would be all Canyon would need, but New Braunfels scored again with 10:52 to play and then added a third goal with 1:17 to play after a Canyon player was unmarked and beat Del Rio’s goalie 1-on-1.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
