Martinez's two goals power Abilene High girls past El Paso High in area soccer playoff
MIDLAND – It had been like forever since the Abilene High girls soccer team had won a second-round playoff game. Not even senior Justine Martinez dared think it was possible going into this season.
Yet here they are, advancing to the Region I-5A quarterfinals after beating El Paso High 4-2 on Monday at Astound Broadband Stadium.
“I saw us progress in the offseason, but I never imagined us going this far – never even thought about that,” Martinez said.
The Lady Eagles won their first playoff game in 16 years a week earlier. Heck, they hadn’t even made the playoffs since 2017.
Now, they have two gold balls = something no AHS girls soccer team has done since going three rounds in 2002.
“It feels amazing, an indescribable feeling,” said Martinez, who scored twice.
It’s been a pretty amazing ride for AHS coach Tiffany Van Hoose, too. This is Van Hoose’s first head coaching job, and she’s headed to the region quarterfinals. Her Lady Eagles (17-2-2) will play either Amarillo High (16-3-3) or El Paso Chapin (14-11) later this week.
“It’s unbelievable,” the former Hardin-Simmons standout said. “But just seeing the passion in the kids’ eyes and seeing how excited they are … It’s been 22 years since they won an area championship, and that’s just awesome to know these kids want it that bad, and they’ll do whatever it takes to get it.”
Lady Eagles dominate but ...
AHS dominated the game, taking 22 shots – putting 14 on-goal.
The Lady Tigers (21-5) managed just four shots, including three on-goal.
Yet it was the Lady Tigers who scored first. Doriela Norzagaray found the net just 2:24 into the game on her team’s first shot of the game.
AHS tied it on a penalty kick by Rheauna De La Garza with 7:57 left in the first half, after Laila Brown had been taken down inside the box.
It remained a 1-1 game at halftime, but Zoe Castro snapped the tie off a corner from Marin Murray for a 2-1 AHS lead with 33:23 left in the game.
The Lady Eagles appeared well on their way to victory when Martinez got her first goal for a 3-1 advantage with 15:02 remaining. Brown had the assist.
Yet AHS fouled an El Paso High player in the box, and Tessa O’Neill converted the penalty kick to make it a one-goal game with 12:45 to play.
Just like that the Lady Tigers were a shot away from tying it up.
“When they got the penalty, it was a little nerve-wracking, but for us to be able to keep control of the game for the last 13 minutes or so was really important,” Van Hoose said. “They didn’t let it get to them. They didn’t shutdown. They just kept the momentum and kept the power.”
Martinez sews it up
Martinez got some insurance, notching her second goal with 7:05 remaining.
“I just knew I had to put it away,” Martinez said.
AHS made it tough for El Paso to generate much offense, since the Lady Eagles spent much of the final minutes on the attack – just as they did much of the game.
“We played our hearts out,” Van Hoose said. “We came out kind of slow, which we have a bad habit of doing. We got behind 1-0 pretty early. But the girls didn’t let it get them. They came out with more fire after that goal, and, man, they played hard until the end.
“It’s fun to watching kids fight, and you can tell they have the mentality to want to win and keep going even when things aren’t going their way. But when things started going their way, they kept it going their win.”
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Abilene High slips past El Paso in Region I-5A girls soccer playoff
