Sailing Forward: Hidalgo routs Davenport, punches ticket to regional final

CORPUS CHRISTI — Since last year’s regional semifinal loss to Boerne, Hidalgo’s boys soccer team has had the score “3-2” written in their locker room.

The Pirates used it as fuel all season long after what they felt was an early postseason exit in 2024.

They continued to use it as motivation during this year’s regional semifinal, powering past the Davenport Wolves 4-1 during the Region IV-4A DI match to secure a spot in next week’s regional final.

The Elite Eight berth is their second in the past three years and third since 2021.

“We got bounced out early, 3-2 against Boerne last year,” Alegria said. “Since last year, we’ve had 3-2 written in our locker room. For the past 365, ‘3-2’ has been our saying. That was our motivation all year. It’s been us vs. us. All our hard work came out today.”

The Pirates wasted little time getting on the board during the regional semifinal, with JJ Garcia finding paydirt during the seventh minute.

The Wolves battled back to tie the game during the 20th minute, with Vicente Hernandez netting Davenport’s first goal of the match.

After a scoreless 20 minutes by both teams, Garcia struck again, this time muscling past his defender and hammering the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-1 heading into the break.

Hidalgo striker JJ Garcia (9) fires a shot for a goal during a Region IV-4A DI semifinal match against Davenport at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. (Courtesy Photo)

Garcia’s second goal was only the beginning of a dominant night for the striker, adding another score during the 59th minute to give Hidalgo a 3-1 advantage. The goal came off an assist from Diego Torres, their second connection of the day.  Torres left the game shortly after the Pirates’ third goal, drawing his second yellow card of the match.

“Next man up,” Alegria said. “We have depth. I think that is one of the reasons we were able to make it this far. We’ll regroup and see what we have to do. We’ll look at our next opponent and see what we have to do.”

Despite being without one of their top players in Torres, the Pirates continued to attack, with Garcia netting his fourth goal during the 64th minute to secure the win and send Hidalgo to the Region IV-4A DI finals.

Hidalgo striker JJ Garcia (9) celebrates on of his goals during a Region IV-4A DI semifinal match against Davenport at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi. (Courtesy Photo)

“My teammate Diego Torres helped me a lot with those goals,” Garcia said. “I’m thankful for him because without him I wouldn’t have been able to do this. Day by day and practice by practice we’ve been working for that 3-2. We were mad we didn’t make it to state. Now we’re here at the regional final.”

The Pirates turn their attention to a match against the Progreso Red Ants, who rallied to defeat La Vernia 3-2 in their own Region IV-4A semifinal Saturday.

The meeting marks the fourth time the two programs have met in the postseason, with Hidalgo holding a 2-1 advantage over Progreso.

The RGV vs. RGV regional final is unofficially set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at Tiger Stadium in Mercedes.

“It’s a Valley final,” Alegria said. “It’s what everyone wanted. We’re looking forward to it. I think everybody in the Valley is looking forward to it. It is pretty special to have that feeling that a potential state champion can come from this game. I know both coaching staffs are looking forward to it. Hopefully we can pack the crowd for this game.”

“It’s in God’s hand,” Garcia added. “We’re going to go out and play. May the best man win.”

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