By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Thursday turned out to be quite a memorable day for Port Isabel’s boys and girls soccer teams.
With a pair of wins on the road, the Tarpons and Lady Tarpons captured their first playoff victories in the UIL sport.
Port Isabel began fielding a boys team in 2004 and has advanced to the postseason a number of times. Thursday’s 4-1 bi-district triumph at Monte Alto marked the first time the Tarpons advanced beyond the opening round of the playoffs.
The Lady Tarpons began playing soccer in 2014 and have qualified for the playoffs during each of their three seasons. Likewise, they hadn’t reached the second round of the postseason until Thursday’s 2-1 bi-district victory at Raymondville.
Yes, it was quite a day.
“This is like the proudest moment of my high school career,” said Leonardo Bravo, a senior center midfielder for the Tarpons. “It gives us a big morale boost. We’re going to keep going and do the best we can.”
“It feels great to be making history at our school,” said Brayan Palestina, a senior central defender. “Maybe this will give a boost to our younger players, make them want to stick with the program and try to set the bar higher next season than we did this year.”
The District 32-4A co-champion Tarpons are scheduled to go against District 30-4A third-place Pleasanton this week in the area round of the Class 4A playoffs. Details of the matchup are scheduled to be worked out Monday.
On a windy Thursday in Raymondville, it took a second-half Olympic goal by Celia Garza made on a corner kick from the right side to lift the Lady Tarpons over the Lady Bearkats after the score was tied 1-1 at halftime.
“A win like this totally boosts everyone’s confidence, not only for me, but the entire team,” said Garza, a freshman midfielder. “It also means we’re going to be confident for our next game when it comes around. I’m just so proud of our team and what we’re doing. I do like how we’re playing because we’ve certainly gotten better.
“We keep going and going and giving all our hearts out there on the field, and that’s what matters most. It’s exciting for me, and I’m just happy for all of us.”
Next up, the 32-4A runner-up Lady Tarpons play host to 30-4A fourth-place La Vernia at 5 p.m. Friday at Tarpon Stadium for an area-round game.
“We’ve gotten that big monkey off our backs that we’ve had the last two years (for not winning a playoff game),” said Lady Tarpons coach Jesus Cardenas, now in his third season guiding the team. “We’ve finally proved it to ourselves that we’re good enough to move on to the second round. We saw ourselves as a team that could get past the first round (this season), and now, we want to go to the third round.
“I’m very proud of my team. These girls have stepped it up when they had to, and now we’d like to keep going.”
“We’re talking to each other and making good passes,” said sophomore midfielder/forward Jennifer Martinez, who scored Port Isabel’s first goal Thursday. “Communication is the key. It’s just a great feeling (to win in the playoffs).”
The Port Isabel boys achieved another important milestone earlier this month by capturing a district title for the first time. They were 32-4A co-champions with Progreso and earned the district’s top seed for the playoffs.
“I think it’s a great accomplishment for this team because our players have been working hard since the start of the season,” eighth-year Tarpons coach Salvador Hernandez said. “We’ve been taking it a step at a time. Our first goal was to win district and they did it. Then our next goal was to win our first playoff game, and it’s happened now, so we’re very happy. It’s something well-deserved for these players.”
“We’re basically in the record book now, so we’re just going to try to go higher and higher and go as far as we can,” junior forward/midfielder Nathan Berman said.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess