ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The 37th annual Brownsville ISD Boys Soccer Tournament/Showcase begins its three-day run at 9 a.m. today at the Brownsville Veterans Memorial, Rivera and Hanna campuses.
There are 24 teams participating, including all six Brownsville public high schools and St. Joseph Academy. Also entered are Harlingen High, Harlingen South, San Benito and Los Fresnos.
San Antonio Reagan is playing in the event for the first time. The Texas Association of Soccer Coaches (TASCO) has the Rattlers ranked as the preseason No. 1 team in Class 6A Region IV and No. 4 in the state. Reagan was the 6A runner-up to Alief Elsik at the UIL state tournament last season.
Austin St. Stephens, a soccer academy, is returning to the BISD event.
Other teams playing in the tournament include McAllen High, McAllen Rowe, Donna North, Donna High, Edinburg High, Edinburg Economedes, Edinburg Vela, PSJA Southwest, Roma, Laredo LBJ and Laredo United South.
LBJ won last weekend’s second annual Southmost Classic in Brownsville.
“We are expecting all the games to be played at a high level,” said Brownsville Veterans coach Alberto Vasquez, whose Chargers are ranked No. 2 in the region and No. 8 in the state in Class 5A by TASCO. “We hope to learn as much as possible about our team (by playing these games) as we get ready for District 32-5A (which starts Jan. 25).”
There’s a format change for the tournament this year. It’s become more of a showcase since there won’t be bracket play with a championship match on Saturday. Instead, each team plays three or four full 80-minute games over the course of the three days.
For example, Reagan’s games are against Hanna at 7 p.m. today at Hanna, against Brownsville Veterans at 5 p.m. Friday at Veterans and against Rivera at 1 p.m. Saturday at Rivera.
Brownsville Veterans won last year’s BISD bracket play tournament with a 5-1 victory over La Joya Juarez-Lincoln in the final.
The 20th annual BISD Girls Soccer Tournament was played last weekend at six sites in Brownsville with the Juarez-Lincoln Lady Huskies capturing the championship. PSJA North was second and Hanna third.
In the recent past, the two BISD tournaments have been played on the same weekend, but not this year.
STRONG STARTS
The Harlingen and San Benito girls teams from District 32-6A all enjoyed non-district winning results on Tuesday.
The Harlingen High Lady Cardinals were on fire in posting an 8-0 triumph over Laredo LBJ. The Lady Cardinals went up 5-0 by halftime and didn’t look back. Scoring two goals apiece for Harlingen High were Lauren Powell, Claire Reed and Kaylani Vasquez. Adding solo tallies were Gillian Cespedes and Brianna Garza.
Tuesday marked the season opener for the Harlingen South Lady Hawks. They responded with a 4-2 victory over PSJA High after leading 1-0 at intermission. Scoring the Lady Hawks’ goals were Joana Marquez, Sarah Garza, Stephanie Torres and Sandra Lopez.
Also coming away with a win were the San Benito Lady Greyhounds, who edged Mission Veterans 3-2. The Lady Greyhounds were ahead 2-1 at halftime. Scoring their goals were Paola Martinez, Aaliyah Garza and Janie Castellanos. The Lady Greyhounds’ new coach this season is Johnny Garza.
GOOD TUNE-UP
Brownsville boys teams capturing decisive non-district wins on Tuesday ahead of the BISD Tournament/Showcase included Rivera, Hanna and Porter. All three were victorious on their home fields.
Rivera triumphed over Edinburg Economedes 5-1, while Hanna was a 4-0 winner against La Joya High. Also Tuesday, Porter downed Harlingen High 4-1.
To begin BISD action today, it’s Rivera vs. Donna North at 11 a.m. at Rivera, Hanna vs. Edinburg High at 11 a.m. at Hanna and Porter vs. PSJA Southwest at 1 p.m. at Rivera.
ON THE ROAD
While almost all the Lower Valley 6A and 5A boys teams are playing at the tournament in Brownsville this weekend, many of the girls squads are hitting the road.
The Lopez Lady Lobos figure to travel the greatest distance as they play in a tournament at Dripping Springs. Local girls teams headed to a tournament in San Antonio include Brownsville Veterans, Pace, Porter and Hanna. La Joya ISD is staging a girls tournament as well. Among the girls teams scheduled to play at that tournament are Los Fresnos, San Benito and Port Isabel.