San Marcos wins first home game over KIPP Austin Brave

The Rattlers are all about pressure.

Head coach Lisa Mazur wants her players as far up the field as they can get, constantly going after the ball. 

“We like to put the pressure on other teams,” Mazur said. “Just high press and just kind of get in their heads and try to make them make mistakes and capitalize off their mistakes.”

San Marcos (2-5-1) capitalized on multiple mistakes Tuesday, as the Rattlers defeated KIPP Austin Brave (3-3-1) 4-3 inside San Marcos Toyota Rattler Stadium.

Junior Giovany Villareal found the net quick, dancing past his defender and firing a shot that found the right side of the goal for a score just 1:13 after the opening kickoff, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead. Junior Melvin Molina followed, receiving a long through pass from senior Daniel Marquez and going one-on-one with the keeper for another strike.

“I just saw the ball coming, me and Daniel have been working on that throughout the season,” Molina said. “I always want him to send those long (passes) because I'm always gonna go for them.”

The Rattlers rolled into halftime with a 2-0, but encountered some adversity when the Eagles made a quick goal to begin the second half. San Marcos responded almost immediately, as Molina sent in a low cross from the right side of the pitch to senior Diego Cruz, who found the left side of the net.

The hosts added one more score to their tally with 21:12 left on the clock. The Rattlers were awarded a free kick just outside the box on the right side of the field. Junior Jose Banda scanned the box for an open man and found junior Jose Duenez, who headed the ball past the goalie.

“I just saw Banda and I saw the defenders were not marking me,” Duenez said. “So I took advantage of that and told Banda, ‘Hey, send that ball to me,’ and I scored.”

The Eagles scored two goals in the final four minutes of the match, but didn’t have enough time to add an equalizer, giving San Marcos a home-opening 4-3 victory.

“The key was the high pressure,” Duenez said. “They couldn't handle the high pressure and, before you know it, we had another goal after goal.”

The Rattlers will remain home this Friday when they host Eagle Pass on the San Marcos JV Field at 6:30 p.m.

“We work on the little things, just make sure we can cover the little things. And just to keep up the pressure, we're going to keep working and move forward,” Mazur said. “And hopefully, you know, by district — we're not 100 percent healthy right now, so we're missing some players. So I think when they come back I think we'll be good to go.”