By RGV Fútbol/Staff

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MISSION, 18 March. - Opportunities come and go. But when they come in soccer, it’s best to take advantage of them because you never know when you’ll get another one.

That’s what the Lady Bulldogs did on Friday at Rattler Stadium when they defeated archrival Sharyland 2-1 to claim their third straight District 30-5A title and 10th in 15 years.

"It comes against Sharyland, who are a great team, but it was do or die,” said McAllen head coach Pat Arney. "If we win, we win the district. If we don’t, we take second place. It really was just a fun game to be in. I told the girls before the game, ‘ladies, this is what we play for, our toughest rival, one game, winner-takes-all. Who’s going to do it? Are you going to do it?’ And I’m so proud of them for doing it. They came out hard, they played their hearts out."

Lizette Niño and Allyson Duarte scored for the Lady Bulldogs, while Victoria Valadez notched the Lady Rattlers’ goal in a fast-paced game that lived up to its billing as a girls soccer Clásico.

"It was an intense game, we practiced really hard all week long,” said Duarte, who scored the game winner that gave McHi their third straight district crown. "We knew it was an important game and we had to win so we could win district. We always have a good game against them. A lot of people thought we weren’t going to be that good this year because two of our forwards, Megan and Tiara, left last year and we had to prove that we have enough talent to make it somewhere."

McAllen (12-1) accumulated 37 points with the victory over Sharyland (11-2, 33 pts.), who’s only two losses this season have come against the Lady Bulldogs. McHi’s only loss in the district season came against Mission.

One of the keys to McAllen’s third consecutive title has been their defense, which stopped several of Sharyland’s offensive advances deep into their side of the field. The Lady Bulldogs have only allowed five goals in 13 district matches for an average of 0.38 goals against per game.

"Our defense played absolutely fantastic," said Arney. "Sharyland’s got a great offense. They were pressuring hard the whole game, and for our defense to give up one goal is an awesome job."

McHi surprised the Sharyland fans when Niño put the visitors up 1-0 in the first five minutes of the second half.

The Lady Rattlers’ offense pressured hard and often in search of the equalizer, but as it often happens in soccer, it’s the team that’s being pressured that found the back of the net first.

Duarte intercepted a ball at midfield and flied down the right side of the field and before making it to the goal area, she lofted a shot to the far post that looped over the Sharyland goalkeepers’ reach to give the Lady Bulldogs a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes left to play in the game.

Less than a minute later, it was McHi’s turn to fall prey to a soccer adage that says that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous lead in a game. After a constant assault on the Lady Bulldogs defense, Sharyland’s Valadez cut their archrival’s lead 2-1.

But that’s as much as Sharyland would get out of the stingy McHi defense as time expired and the Lady Bulldogs were crowned three-time district champions.

"It’s the way it goes. When you play a quality team like this, whoever takes advantage of their scoring opportunities and actually capitalizes on them is going to be the difference in the game," said Sharyland head coach J.J. López. "McHi is a quality team with quality players. Allyson took a great shot to score that second goal. I thought it was going to deflate us a little, but my team showed a lot of character to come back and put one in and get us back into the game.

"It was a tough loss. Anytime you get this close to a district title and you have the opportunity to get it and you don’t reach it, obviously you’re going to be a little disappointed, but the girls played hard and that’s all I can ask for," concluded López. “It’s a young group so I’ll have most of these girls back next year and I’m excited not only for the remainder of this year, but the years to come."