Thanks to an insurance goal from freshman Rebeca Garza with 19 minutes left to play, the Sealy Lady Tigers secured a 2-1 win over the Needville Lady Jays Monday night at T.J. Mills Stadium. Sealy’s win snapped a five-year, 10-game losing streak against Needville, a former district foe.

Lady Tiger junior Destinee Castillo supplied the game’s opening goal with 30:04 left in the game and was followed by Garza just 10:37 later to give the hosts a 2-0 lead.

Ariana Hurley got the Lady Jays on the board with only 13:05 remaining but Sealy junior goalkeeper Hailey Arteaga finished the job with a handful of saves down the stretch that preserved the first regular-season win of 2021.

“Hailey is a very hard worker,” Lady Tiger head soccer coach Adrian Rocha said Monday night. “She’s hard on herself and since her freshman year I always thought she wouldn’t come back and she’s come back all three years so her attitude is amazing and that’s what’s getting her to where she’s at now. She’s put in the work, she’s learned from her peers and previous goalies, she picks up things and works at them.”

On the other end, Castillo paced the offense for much of last year and now is flanked by Garza who has made the transition to high school well so far.

“Destinee has improved a lot since she’s started to play so it was about trusting her teammates and with Rebeca, it was about taking the opportunity,” Rocha said. “From junior high to high school is a major difference and for her to do what she did – and to do what she’s doing – is amazing.”

The head coach said the win brought added excitement because of the recent struggles the team has had with Needville. Last year, Sealy lost district contests to the Lady Jays by 3-2 and 2-0 scores which ran Needville’s advantage to 43-11 over the 10-game span.

“Last year, they came so close. We were about to win but it’s just about working together,” Rocha said. “This win is what the program needed.”

After Monday’s contest, the head coach said he planned for this Friday’s road trip to La Grange to serve as the non-district finale ahead of a meeting with Hempstead next Friday, Jan. 22, but added if a game becomes available after schedule shuffling, he wouldn’t be opposed to accepting.

“This is what we need, I’m excited for district to start next Friday,” he said. “If we have a good start to district hopefully we can keep it on a roll.”

Sealy drops opener

The Lady Tigers kicked off their regular season last Tuesday evening at home against the Giddings Buffaloes and fell, 8-1.

Castillo provided Sealy’s lone goal to begin the second half and not only did it cut into a four-goal deficit, but it executed the message within Rocha’s halftime speech.

“At halftime, I told them to shake it off. They were nervous, they needed to believe in themselves and they needed to really talk to each other and connect and start the second half how they started the first half,” Rocha said last Tuesday. “Apparently what we talked about at halftime worked because we came right out and scored, they were not expecting that and they were mad about that.”

Although they were unable to record another goal, the Lady Tigers gained valuable experience from the game against Giddings who ranked No. 1 in MaxPreps’ Jan. 8 state rankings for Class 4A. In seven wins, the Buffaloes have outscored opponents 43-2.

“It feels good to be back,” Rocha said of the start of the regular season. “Especially because we have a very talented team and they’re gaining the experience but they have the talent so it feels amazing to be back.”

Two players who put their talents on display in the regular-season opener, Rocha said, were Arteaga and senior Alexis Garza, who saw time all over the field.

“(Arteaga’s) starting now, she’s in her third year and she stopped many good shots that these people were not expecting,” the head coach said. “Garza is what you would call a utility player, she plays everywhere and I needed her there tonight in that spot because although that’s not her normal spot she really stood out well.”