(Edinburg, Texas)-At Richard R. Flores Stadium, Donna North High School played with only ten players after Asiel Ybarra was red-carded in the first half, but the Chiefs managed to hold on to defeat Edinburg High School 2-1 in the University Interscholastic League State 6A Boys Soccer Bi-District Championships on Friday night. With the win, the Chiefs (13-5-1) will play District 30-6A Champions, Laredo LBJ (15-4-1) in the area playoffs next week. “We were down one player on the field after my player was red-carded. But, this was a tough game and we had to make adjustments,” said Chiefs head coach, Andres Sanchez. In his seventh season, Sanchez led his team with plenty of emotions from the sidelines, encouraging his players to “keep fighting”. The Chiefs never gave up.
In the first half, Chiefs player, Enrique Casias fired a shot to score to give Donna North a 1-0 lead with 24:22 left in the half. Then it happened, Asiel Ybarra was caught elbowing an Edinburg player and the referee looked upset, and immediately pulled out his red card. The half ended with a 1-0 Chiefs lead.
The Edinburg Bobcats came out strong in the second half and quickly tied the game at 1-1 all on a head butt but Donna North needed just a few minutes to regain its composure to score their second goal of the night to make 2-1 with 30-24 left to play. In total, Edinburg was charged with five yellow cards while Donna was carded with four, including one red card. “It was a tough game. Both teams played great and I’m proud of the sportsmanship between both schools,” said Sanchez.
