By RGV Fútbol/Staff

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BROWNSVILLE, 14 Apr. - The Sharyland Lady Rattlers were on the brink of making Rio Grande Valley girls soccer history Saturday, but instead fell just short of their goal when they were defeated 1-0 by San Antonio Churchill in the Class 5A Region IV Final at the Brownsville Sports Park.

Despite the loss, the Lady Rattlers became the Valley’s girls team that has come the closest to advancing to the State Tournament with their valiant performance against Churchill in the Regional Final.

"It was a tough game, but you can’t take anything away from my girls," said Sharyland head coach J.J. López. "I’m very proud of them. We would’ve liked a better outcome, but we proved that we’re at the rest of the state’s level when it comes to girls soccer.

"There is good girls soccer here in the Valley," López added. "We’re closing the gap. We came close, but it didn’t work out for us this time around. One of these years we or other Valley teams will make the jump to the next level."

The Lady Rattlers had a few good opportunities to score, but it came down to who made the least mistakes.

After playing to a scoreless draw for 67 minutes, Sharyland was caught off guard when the Lady Rattlers goalkeeper was drawn away from the goal and Churchill’s Lauren Peck tapped in a pass from Ashley Morales to score the game winner and send the Chargers to the State Tournament.

The Regional Final victory is Churchill’s seventh Regional title and first since 2003.