The recent past – wherein the Van Vandals have usually taken care of the Mineola soccer side pretty routinely – made last Friday’s 3-0 Yellowjacket win so much sweeter. 

Mineola came out as the stronger, more resilient and better disciplined side. The Vandals did not like being intimidated by the Yellowjackets, and they reacted with a lot of open arms extended in appeals.

The story of the game, however, was not physical play, but rather the Mineola defensive and midfield work. The Yellowjackets made every routine pass difficult for the Vandals. There were only a handful of times throughout the 80 minutes of play when Van was able to string four passes together. 

Activity and relentless strength on the ball won the match. 

And then there is Jonathan Ledesma. The Mineola striker collected three more goals and he did so in the full spectrum of goal-scoring.  

In the opening minutes he placed a penalty shot into the lower right corner of the netting. Just before the halftime whistle, he took possession in the midfield, accelerated down the south sideline as if he were in the passing lane, and put a laser shot into the far corner of the goal.  

The final goal of the night came when Ledesma chested a ball into the net after a Mineola corner kick put the ball into a crowd at the front of goal. 

While Ledesma provided the fireworks, this was a team victory. Great combination play by Eddie Lucas, Eduardo Zavala and Brayan Torres (and others) was a constant throughout the match. Their play opened chances for attacking Van.

Mineola twice rattled the ironworks with strong shots. An excellent pass from Lucas very nearly connected with Alex Cortez for what would have been a point-blank opportunity. 

Perhaps the most telling moment came late in the match. Mineola had just gone up 3-0, and Van was clearly so frustrated that they had difficulty in executing the simplest of movements.

While the balance of Jackets celebrated the goal, from across the field could be heard a voice from the defensive line, “We are not done yet!” 

The call to finish from the back-line spoke plenty about the focus and perspective of this year’s squad.   

Shelby Turner’s soccer side completed the first half of district play on Tuesday. They travel to Bullard on Friday and will next be in Meredith Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, Feb. 18 as they host Brownsboro.