BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
When Pricilla Alanis transferred back into the Sharyland school system as a junior after spending a year at IDEA Mission, she didn’t plan on joining the Pioneer girls soccer team.
She remembered playing in coach J.J. Lopez’s system as a freshman and being intimidated by his strict, demanding style.
“My freshman year, I was really scared of my coach, and I felt like it was going to be the same,” Alanis said. “I ran into him in the hallway, and he said, ‘Are you going to join soccer?’ I said no, and he was like, ‘What, you have to change your schedule? You have to get soccer.’ So I was like, ‘OK, I’ll try it.’”
The transition back into a successful public school team at Pioneer wasn’t always easy or smooth, but in time Alanis developed into a critical piece of a dominant Lady Diamondbacks defense.
Heading into a matchup with Corpus Christi Veterans at 8 p.m. tonight at Cabaniss Field in Corpus Christi, Pioneer has lost just one game in regulation. The Lady Diamondbacks found a late goal to overcome Victoria East 1-0 Friday in the area round — the types of pressure situations Alanis never encountered at IDEA Mission.
“At IDEA, they played, but they played just because they liked playing,” Alanis said. “Playing with a public school, like for Sharyland, it’s a lot more competitive, and you see a lot more teams. Coaches are a lot more strict. They care a lot more. They want to go all the way to state.”
That pressure made Alanis hesitant to join the first-year program last year, but Lopez was looking for any players he could find to help get the team off the ground.
Alanis was also coaxed into joining by her cousin, Julie, one of three seniors on Pioneer’s roster who entered 2016 with multiple years of varsity experience.
“I would always encourage her, because I knew how the atmosphere was, and I knew she would fit right in,” Julie said. “I knew she always liked to play, so I told her just to give it a try and see if she liked it. And I’m glad she liked it.”
Julie said she gave Pricilla tips on how to mesh with the coaching staff and fit in Pioneer’s formations, and Pricilla said the rest of the team helped her catch up any time she would fall behind. Looking back, Pricilla said the first few days weren’t as bad as she expected.
After watching Pricilla spend about half the season playing just 10 or 15 minutes per game off the bench — “I don’t think the coach trusted me that much to go in there for that long,” Pricilla said — Julie saw her cousin take a major step forward. Lopez saw the same and decided to reward Pricilla with a larger role.
“When she came to us, we didn’t really know where she was going to fit in, but we realized she had some speed to work with,” Lopez said. “Everything started coming back to her. I told her it’s like riding a bicycle. You never forget the stuff, you just have to get back into it, and she’s done a good job of that.”
Coming back as a regular starter at right defense this season, Pricilla has been one of Pioneer’s best at gathering steals and starting offense from the back end. Pricilla said she understands the game better this year and has improved her speed and ball control.
The Lady Diamondbacks defense has allowed just two goals this season, with senior three-year varsity player Taylor Marquez, Brittany Landavazo and Kate Padilla joining Pricilla in protecting goalkeeper Stephanie Barrientos on the back end.
“I like to build up (Pricilla’s) confidence a lot,” Marquez said. “She’s a very good player. She doesn’t need to doubt herself as often. She’s very confident. She’s wanting the ball more, and she shuts down a lot of the players on other teams.”
Much of Pioneer’s defensive success is a credit to the team’s possession-based style. With nine starters back from last season, the Lady Diamondbacks are showing the benefits of experience, improved conditioning and better bench players.
Last year, Pioneer advanced to the regional semifinals before losing to Vandegrift.
“I think this is the team that can break through and get us to the state tournament,” Lopez said. “Hopefully the girls understand that, and they have a great opportunity in front of them, and anything is possible as long as they believe and put in the work and time.”