By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Impressive playoff victories on the road have advanced Brownsville boys soccer teams Lopez, Pace and Porter to the coming weekend’s regional tournaments.
An equally impactful win at home by the Los Fresnos girls also is advancing the Lady Falcons to the fourth round of postseason play.
In Tuesday’s Class 6A regional quarterfinals, the Lopez boys prevailed 2-1 against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln at La Joya ISD Stadium, while the Los Fresnos girls were 1-0 winners at Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium against Harlingen South.
“Yes, that (stadium in La Joya) is such a tough venue, and Juarez-Lincoln is a very good team,” Lobos coach Amadeo Escandon said. “It took us a while to adapt to their style of playing, especially in the attacking third on our side of the field.”
In Tuesday’s Class 5A regional quarterfinals, Porter won 2-0 against Sharyland High at Mission’s Tom Landry Stadium, while Pace triumphed 2-0 at Valley View.
It was scoreless at halftime during each of the matches involving Lopez, Pace and Porter. Then good things began to happen for the Brownsville teams in the final 40 minutes.
District 32-5A champion Porter (24-0-1) and 32-5A runner-up Pace (18-7-3) move on to the Region IV-5A Tournament starting Friday at Corpus Christi’s Cabaniss Field to play District 27-5A champion Alamo Heights and District 25-5A champion Austin Vandegrift, respectively, at 4:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The District 32-6A champion Lobos (19-2-1) and 32-6A second-place Lady Falcons (24-6-1) will be playing at the Region IV-6A Tournament also starting Friday at Brownsville Sports Park against District 25-6A runner-up Schertz Clemens and District 27-6A third-place San Antonio O’Connor, respectively, at 2 p.m. and noon.
REPEAT OF HISTORY
Pace’s win at Valley View marked the second straight year for the Vikings to eliminate the highly regarded Tigers, who advanced to state in 2013 and 2014, from the 5A playoffs.
It was also a 2-0 result in Pace’s favor at Tiger Stadium one season ago as the Vikings eliminated Valley View in the bi-district round.
What made Tuesday’s victory even more remarkable was the fact that Pace was without two starters, Geovani Martinez and Jorge Perez, who had to sit out after receiving red cards during last Friday’s 1-0 area-round win against Laredo Cigarroa.
“I was waiting for this game since last season so we could advance to the regional tournament,” said second-year Pace coach Mario A. Zamora, whose team lost to Porter 2-1 in penalty kicks in the 2015 regional quarterfinals. “We weren’t ready last season. Now we’re ready.
“The environment (Tuesday at Valley View) was awesome thanks to our fans,” Zamora added. “Our team did a great job of managing the game, and our defense was solid at all times. Now we are looking forward to winning in the regional semifinals.”
Pace is returning to the Region IV-5A Tournament for the first time since 2007.
“The feeling (of winning Tuesday) was very important not only to me, but for the whole team,” said Abel Jaramillo, who scored Pace’s first goal on a header four minutes into the second half. “Now it’s on to the next level to pursue our goal (of going to state).”
Added teammate Benlly Galvan. whose goal on a free kick taken from 21 yards away made it 2-0, “I love wearing these (Pace) colors and I love my team. This is a great feeling.”
MAJOR STRIDES
Port Isabel’s boys and girls ended their seasons Tuesday following losses in the Class 4A regional quarterfinals.
The District 32-4A co-champion Tarpons lost to Hidalgo 1-0 in penalty kicks at McAllen Veterans Memorial Stadium after it took 14 players attempting PKs to determine a winner. The 32-4A runner-up Lady Tarpons were eliminated 6-0 by Rockport-Fulton in Kingsville.
Advancing three rounds in the playoffs was quite a feat considering neither the Tarpons nor Lady Tarpons had reached the postseason before. They each had the kind of playoff showings that will help their programs build for the future and make a name for Port Isabel soccer.
“The future looks good,” Lady Tarpons coach Jesus Cardenas said. “I have pretty much a full team of starters returning as I am only losing two defenders and possibly my goalie since she might be moving out of state. There is a good group of young girls competing for the vacated spots, which should help out our cause. Hopefully we get another handful of incoming freshmen who can maybe increase our depth as well.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess