By RGV Fútbol/Staff

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BROWNSVILLE, 15 Jan. - After surviving one of the toughest groups of the Brownsville ISD Tournament, the Sharyland Rattlers went on to defeat Laredo LBJ in the championship match on Saturday at the Brownsville Sports Park and claim their second BISD trophy in three years.

Jesús Olivares put the Rattlers on the board in the first half, while striker Daniel García tallied the game-winning goal in the second half against Laredo LBJ. Diego Hernández equalized the match for the Wolves on an early goal in the second half.

"It was a good game," said Sharyland head coach Reveriano Hernández. "The guys worked hard. If feels good after coming close to winning it last year."

Sharyland has played in the last three BISD Tournament championship matches, and last year lost a heartbreaker to Brownsville Porter in penalty kicks. The game against the Cowboys in 2011 ended in a scoreless draw at the end of regulation time. Porter won 3-2 in the PK series.

In 2010, Sharyland defeated Brownsville Hanna 1-0 on a goal by Alex De la Garza to win the tournament title.

During the post-game trophy ceremony, Rattlers senior midfielder Jesús Olivares was presented with the MVP of the tournament award.

"I’m very proud of my team. We’re a family and we worked really hard, and we’re very determined. I’m just very proud of these guys," said Olivares. "There was a lot of competition and we really had to fight to get into the final and LBJ was a very tough opponent. I really have to congratulate them, they gave us a hard game. Thank God we won."

LBJ is no stranger to the Brownsville Tournament or the championship game. The Wolves made their second final appearance in six years. In 2007, LBJ was defeated 3-0 by Pace in the title match.

"The players did a great job, and I have to congratulate Sharyland for a very good game," said LBJ head coach Eddie Silva. "A lot of the players that are with the team now came from the middle school ranks over the years and they’ve done great. They deserve all the credit. It’s about them and the job they’ve done."

LBJ went undefeated with a 4-2-0 (wins, draws, losses) record to win Group 1 with 36 points. Sharyland also was udefeated and racked up a 5-1-0 mark for 46 points, the highest amount of any of the 27 teams in pool play.

In the quarterfinals, LBJ defeated Austin St. Stephen’s 3-2 and edged out Brownsville Porter in penalty kicks during the semifinals to advance to the championship match.

Sharyland routed Laredo United South 4-1 in the quarterfinals and slipped past a scrappy La Joya Juárez-Lincoln squad in penalty kicks to advance to the title game.

Porter and Juarez-Lincoln decided not to play a third place game.

In the consolation games, Brownsville López defeated Brownsville Pace 1-0 to win the Silver Division, while St. Joseph downed Weslaco 5-4 in penalty kicks to win the Bronze Division.