By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Last week’s news of Porter forfeiting two District 32-5A soccer games and surrendering the 32-5A championship to PSJA Southwest may have been a little troubling to some, but the ruling from the UIL at the state level hasn’t deterred the Cowboys from pursuing their higher objectives in the Class 5A playoffs.
In fact, they say it’s given them additional motivation.
Cowboys coach Jose Espitia said, “There was a misunderstanding with the ruling on a Porter (backup) player, which resulted in him being ineligible. Porter self-reported the situation to the (32-5A) District Executive Committee and it resulted in us losing six points and finishing district as the runner-up. I just want to clarify that we never did anything maliciously or to gain an advantage.”
Espitia said the ineligible player played 60 minutes against PSJA Southwest and 20 minutes against Edcouch-Elsa, so those two matches became forfeits for the Cowboys, who originally had gone through 32-5A with a 14-0 record.
There were no ill effects evident from the ruling during Porter’s 3-0 bi-district victory against Sharyland Pioneer on Saturday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Porter now advances to an area-round matchup against District 29-5A champion Laredo Cigarroa at 7 p.m. Thursday at Brownsville Sports Park.
The Cowboys appear to be taking things in stride and going about the business of trying to get back to the UIL state tournament for the fourth time in school history.
“This (ruling) gives us motivation to continue forward (in the playoffs),” said Reyes Saldivar, Porter’s senior center midfielder and team captain. “We lost the district trophy, and it gives us a greater desire to win other trophies now. We just want to keep moving forward.”
Added teammate and fellow captain Uriel Sepulveda, a junior midfielder/forward, “Yes, it serves as a motivation for us. People may want to see us down because Porter’s always been No. 1. We have to show that we (still) are. Unfinished business is what we have (after not making the playoffs last season), and that’s our goal (to do well in the postseason).
“We feel proud for our win (against Sharyland Pioneer), and we hope it’s just one of many in a row,” he added.
Espitia said last week’s ruling is one of the several challenges his team has encountered since last season.
“It actually dates back to last year when we struggled a lot, had injuries and so many things were going on (that we missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999),” the Porter coach said. “That’s why our motto this season is ‘Unfinished Business.’ We consider this victory (against Pioneer) as getting one step closer to our goal (at state).
“Our players are hungry and anxious to show what they can do,” Espitia added. “We want to show who the real champions are.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.