By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
With the end of the regular season for soccer fast approaching, it’s a good time to look ahead to the postseason.
District 32-6A is settled playoff-wise for the girls, while the boys still have several possibilities.
For the boys, district co-leaders Brownsville Veterans Memorial and Lopez (both 10-2. 31 points) have clinched playoff spots. With two games remaining, they could go into next week’s final 32-6A match against each other still tied and playing for the district championship.
They’re scheduled to play Tuesday at Brownsville Veterans. The Chargers won their first-round match against Lopez, 2-0, at Sams Memorial Stadium.
Before that 32-6A finale, the Chargers are at Los Fresnos on Friday, and the Lobos play Saturday at Brownsville Sports Park against Harlingen High.
In the mix for the district’s two final playoff spots for the boys are Hanna (8-4, 22 points), Los Fresnos (7-5, 20 points), Rivera (6-6, 17 points) and Harlingen South (5-7, 17 points).
“From third to sixth place, everything is so close (between four teams) in our district,” Hanna coach Reyes Prado said. “I know everyone has said the same thing from the beginning of the season, but really, right now it’s a playoff atmosphere for every (32-6A) game. Everyone is trying to earn as many points as possible, and it’s tough, especially for these last two games.”
Rivera, which plays Hanna on Friday at Sams, has put itself in the playoff conversation with wins against South (2-1) and Los Fresnos (2-1) in its last two matches.
“We expect two tough games (against Hanna and then San Benito),” Rivera coach Salvador Garcia said. “On Friday versus Hanna should be a good test for us because Hanna is in my humble opinion the most talented team in our district. We gave them a good game during the first round (losing 2-1 in overtime) and we are going to try our best to give them a good game again.
“Winning both of our last two district games will put us in a great position for the postseason,” Garcia added. “We are going to do our part and leave everything else in God’s hands.”
Determined following Tuesday’s results, the four girls playoff qualifiers from 32-6A are Los Fresnos (10-2, 30 points), Lopez (9-3, 26 points), Brownsville Veterans (8-4, 24 points) and South (8-4, 24 points).
The Los Fresnos girls, regional finalists one year ago, are going after their fifth district title in seven years.
32-5A UPDATE
The playoff news is good for the Brownsville boys and girls teams in District 32-5A.
For the boys, first-place Porter (12-0, 36 points) and second-place Pace (8-4, 24 points) have qualified for the postseason, while so have the Lady Vikings (10-2, 28 points) and Cowgirls (8-4, 27 points). The Pace girls share the district lead with PSJA Southwest (10-2, 28 points) and the Porter girls (8-4, 27 points) are close behind.
It’s the first time for the Cowgirls to advance to the postseason.
The four playoff qualifiers for the girls in 32-5A have been determined. Besides Porter, Pace and PSJA Southwest, the other girls team headed to the postseason is Edcouch-Elsa (7-5, 22 points).
Two playoffs berths are still open for the 32-5A boys.
The final round of 32-5A games will be played Monday.
VALLEY QUALIFIERS
Among the Rio Grande Valley’s Class 6A and 5A schools, so far 14 girls teams and eight boys squads have secured playoff spots.
Besides the previously mentioned Valley girls playoff qualifiers from 32-6A and 32-5A, the others from 6A and 5A are McAllen High and McAllen Memorial from District 30-6A, Edinburg North and Edinburg Economedes from District 31-6A and Sharyland High and Sharyland Pioneer from District 31-5A.
For the boys, besides the ones that already have clinched from 32-6A and 32-5A, other Valley 6A and 5A playoff qualifiers include McHi from 30-6A, PSJA Memorial from 31-6A and Sharyland High and Valley View from 31-5A.
There are four-team districts, such as District 32-4A for the boys, where all the teams advance to the postseason. For 32-4A boys, those teams are Port Isabel, IDEA Frontier, Progreso and La Feria.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess