Lady Rattlers defeat Floresville in home opener

Standing outside the penalty box, freshman Ana Barragan sent a perfect shot toward goal. The free kick bent into goal to give San Marcos a 2-1 lead over Floresville. 

The Lady Rattlers captured a 3-2 win over the Lady Jaguars on Tuesday inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium. 

“We knew it was going to scrappy game,” head coach Jason Carnley said. “It’s going to be a tough, physical game and some calls didn’t go our way, some calls did go our way that’s just part of how it goes. We have a lot of people in different positions. A lot of moving pieces. Some people are injured. Some people are out. So, a 3-2 win, I’ll take it for our first game at home.”

San Marcos scored first off a well-placed placed ball from Barragan. But Floresville equalized quickly. 

The Lady Rattlers secured a 2-1 advantage with Barragan’s second goal of the night. 

The Lady Jaguars, however, took advantage of slow start to the second half from San Marcos to even the score at 2-2. 

Senior Alyssa Villanueva scored the go-ahead goal to give the Lady Rattlers the 3-2 lead. 

San Marcos held on for its third win of the season. 

The Lady Rattlers are coming off a good start to the year with a successful run in the Waller Classic in Houston, where they went 2-0-2.

“Our tournament went well,” Carnely said. “It was more successful than I thought. We started off kind of sluggish. It was nasty and cold and then we started picking up play against top, state-ranked teams.” 

San Marcos hosts its annual tournament this weekend. With a shortened non-district schedule, the Lady Rattlers are already preparing for district play. 

“(We’re) having to really change up our season,” Carnley said. “We used to have three tournaments and only five district teams, now we have seven and (district play) is coming up right away. So, we don’t have a lot of time to go watch them. They don’t have a lot of time to come watch us. We’re trying to really figure out who we’re playing against. Our district is going to be tough. It’s going to be no joke.”

San Marcos plays two games on Thursday: 9:30 a.m. vs. Victoria East and 2 p.m. vs. Conroe. The Lady Rattlers play at 12:30 p.m. on Friday against South San Antonio and at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday against Abilene. 

“We’re in a tough bracket for a reason,” Carnley said. “So, hopefully we get in there and get ready for district.”