By RGVFútbol/Staff

BROWNSVILLE, 13 Jan. - Last season Sharyland midfielder Gilberto "Tito" Alanis watched nervously and helplessly from the stands as his team beat Laredo LBJ in the championship match to win the Brownsville Tournament.

A year later, Alanis got the chance to redeem himself on a windy Saturday at the Brownsville Sports Park, and played an active role in helping the Rattlers defeat Valley View 3-2 to claim their second straight Brownsville Tournament title in a much anticipated championship game that pitted the top two teams in the Rio Grande Valley.

A couple of weeks ago, Valley View defeated Sharyland 3-2 in a scrimmage match that was more than just a practice game for both squads.

"It feels really good that I got to participate this time," said Alanis, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. "Last year I’m glad my team got through this tournament, they did their best and they got first place. I got to sit down and watch from the bench. But you know what? I’m here now and I’m doing my best to help the team."

The Rattlers took a 2-0 lead at halftime with the wind at their back on goals by Adrián Cuesta and Abraham Peña, but Valley View came back in the second half on an own goal by the Sharyland goalkeeper and an equalizer by striker José “Torito” Soto.

With less than 10 minutes left in the match and the score deadlocked at 2-all, it seemed that a penalty kick series was going to decide the game. However, as Sharyland has done time and again, most recently in the semifinals against Brownsville Porter, the Rattlers found a way to win.

Although the wind had dominated the game, it calmed down enough in the waning minutes of the match and it gave the Rattlers an chance to keep the ball past midfield for longer than a counterattack. That small window of opportunity was not wasted by Sharyland, who took advantage of a miscue by the Valley View goalkeeper when Luis Gómez put the ball in the back of the net to give the Rattlers a 3-2 victory.

In the semifinals, Porter took a 2-0 lead over Sharyland in the first half on goals by Salvador Chávez and Reyes Saldivar. The Rattlers countered with three goals in the second part of the game to beat the Cowboys 3-2 and advance to their second straight title game at the Brownsville Tournament. Daniel García scored twice and Leo Álvarez also tallied a score for the Rattlers.

Sharyland concluded the 31st Brownsville Tournament with an undefeated 7-1-0 record with 15 goals scored and 6 against for a goal differential of +9.

Valley View completed the tournament with a 5-2-1 record with 20 goals in favor and 6 against. Forward “Torito” Soto was honored with the top goal scorer of the finals. He tallied three goals in two finals matches.

In the third place game, Porter held off Mission 2-1. Rigo Juárez and Reyes Saldivar staked the Cowboys to a 2-0 first-half lead and midfielder Aldo Sánchez scored for the Eagles in the second half.

Originally scheduled to be played at the Brownsville Sports Park, the first two days of the tournament were split between the Sports Park and Sams Stadium due to the inclement weather that left the grass fields unplayable.

The final day of the competition was played at the Sports Park, but the tournament organizers eliminated the quarterfinals phase. The winners of each group advanced to the semifinals of the gold bracket, while the second place teams of each group advanced to the silver bracket.

Brownsville Rivera won the silver bracket with a 2-0 win over Donna.

Rivera defeated Brownsville López 2-0 and Donna beat Brownsville Hanna in penalty kicks to advance to the final of the silver bracket.