By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Brownsville soccer teams enjoyed quite a successful showing as conference competition began Tuesday in District 32-6A and District 32-5A.
The combined record of the city’s boys and girls squads that night was 11-1-2, including a 1-1 non-district tie in a boys match between St. Joseph Academy and IDEA Frontier. The lone loss was a 4-0 setback suffered by the Brownsville Veterans Memorial girls against always tough Harlingen South.
During 32-6A boys play Tuesday, it was Hanna over San Benito 2-0, Lopez over Los Fresnos 2-0, Rivera over Harlingen High 7-0 and Brownsville Veterans over Harlingen South 3-1. The same night in 32-5A boys, it was Porter over Donna North and Pace over Mercedes by identical 3-0 scores.
Hanna’s win was highlighted by goals from Beto Herrera and Juan Alexis Hernandez.
“It feels real good to start 1-0 in probably the toughest soccer district in Texas after all the hard work that our guys have put in, but our team knows that it is not how you start but how you finish,” Hanna coach Reyes Prado said. “We are eager to show that we can compete against anyone in our district. The team chemistry is beginning to pay off.”
During its 3-0 home win against Donna North, Porter was led by Alexis Anzures with a pair of goals and teammate Luis Lara added one.
“It feels good to start district with a victory, especially after a bad year (in 2014 when we missed the playoffs),” Porter coach Jose Espitia said. “We are approaching this season in a humble way and taking it a game at a time.”
ROAD TESTS: The boys and girls of Porter and Pace face some key 32-5A tests on the road Friday in 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. doubleheaders, with the girls playing first.
Pace is at Donna High’s Bennie LaPrade Stadium after having won at Mercedes on Tuesday, while Porter is at Edcouch-Elsa’s Benny Layton Memorial Stadium for its first district road competition of the season.
“We have a very tough game (against E-E) at a very difficult site,” Espitia said. “We are not taking anybody lightly. We haven’t seen E-E yet, but we know they are coming off a (3-2) win against PSJA High.”
ON THE HORIZON: At least two very important games stand out on the 32-6A schedule next Tuesday as the Rivera boys play host to Lopez at Sams Memorial Stadium and the Los Fresnos Lady Falcons will be at home against the Harlingen South Lady Hawks at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium.
Both matches are scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m., and even though it’s still early in the first round of 32-6A, both games figure to weigh heavily in the boys and girls district title races.
The boys from Rivera and Lopez split their two district matchups one year ago, but the game they all probably remember most is their meeting in the Region IV-5A final in San Antonio last April 12 as the Lobos advanced to state, thanks to a 3-2 victory.
BIRTHDAY BOYS: Pace coach Mario A. Zamora celebrated his birthday Thursday, and Vikings assistant Juan Gamboa observes his birthday Friday. Both would gladly accept a 2-0 record in district as a birthday present if the Vikings can get past Donna High on the road Friday.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.