By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Winning a soccer title at the Brownsville ISD Tournament is becoming a pretty good habit for the Porter Cowboys.
The Cowboys, ranked No. 1 in the Rio Grande Valley by RGVSports.com, repeated as a bracket champion at the 34th annual BISD Tournament with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory Friday against Harlingen South.
The two-day, 32-team tournament was played at Brownsville Sports Park.
Porter was the Gold Bracket champion, and Laredo United South was the Navy Bracket champion thanks to a 3-0 bracket final win against McAllen High, also Friday at BSP.
Porter and Laredo United South were scheduled to play Saturday to determine the overall tournament championship, but the match was canceled late Friday night.
It was just like last year when Porter and Rivera won bracket championships at the BISD Tournament and the scheduled overall championship match was canceled.
The Cowboys were 2014 BISD champions as they defeated Laredo United 2-1 for the overall tournament title.
The latest tournament title has Porter coach Jose Espitia feeling pretty good about his squad.
“I am very excited with the way our team looks,” Espitia said. “I knew we were going to give a good fight (in the tournament), but I didn’t expect for the boys to mature and bond as a family so quickly. They are working together like a well-oiled machine, and they played their hearts out in every single game at the tournament.”
Espitia said Friday’s bracket final match was a special moment because it marked the first time Porter went up against Harlingen South coach Julian Robles in a regular-season game. The Hawks had scrimmaged the Cowboys a few weeks ago.
Robles was a Porter assistant under Espitia for five years before he became the coach at Harlingen South prior to the 2015 season.
The Cowboys gave Robles the game ball after Friday’s match as a gesture of appreciation for how he is revitalizing the Hawks’ boys soccer program.
“It was special because it was our first official game against Coach Robles,” Espitia said. “He has turned that program around. They gave us a great final match. South started off very strong and they scored first.”
Porter battled back from a 1-0 deficit to lead 2-1 at halftime on goals by Anthony Cuellar and Enrique Soto. Roberto Briseno added a second-half goal for Porter to complete the tally.
“Porter is a very talented team, and I believe we stood tall against them on their home ground,” Robles said. “We wanted to take them out of their comfort zone by cutting off lanes and shortening the field.
“While we did many things right, at the end minor errors were our downfall,” Robles added. “We came out of the tournament with what we hoped for, and that was to play some talented, established and well-coached teams. We got the experience we wanted (from the tournament) and will now prepare for District (32-6A).”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess.
Saturday, Jan. 16
Tournaments
34th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament
At Brownsville Sports Park
Tournament championship
Porter vs. Laredo United South, canceled
Bracket Play
Gold Bracket
Edinburg High 3, San Antonio Burbank 1
Weslaco East 1, Edinburg Economedes 0
Championship
Weslaco East 2, Edinburg High 1
Third-Place Game
Edinburg Economedes 5, San Antonio Burbank 2
Silver Bracket
PSJA North 1, Hidalgo 0
Donna High 1, Los Fresnos 0
Silver Final
PSJA North 1, Donna High 0
Silver Third-Place Game
Los Fresnos 3, Hidalgo 0
Bronze Bracket
Edinburg Vela 2, Corpus Christi Carroll 1
Corpus Christi King 1, Roma 0
Bronze Final
Corpus Christi King 3, Edinburg Vela 0
Bronze Third-Place Game
Roma 2, Corpus Christi Carroll 1, PKs
Copper Division
Corpus Christi Ray 3, Rockport 0
Kingsville 1, IWA 0
Copper Final
Corpus Christi Ray 4, Kingsville 1
Copper Third-Place Game
Rockport 5, IWA 2
Tournament MVPs: Angel Alejos, Weslaco East; Ghazi Sinno, Edinburg High. All-Tournament Team: Jonathon Gonzalez, Weslaco East; Roel Ramirez, Weslaco East; Roberto Lopez, Edinburg High; Jorge Castillo, Edinburg High; Mario Ferrer, Edinburg Economedes; Jesus Rodriguez, Edinburg Economedes; Kevin Govea, San Antonio Burbank; Ruben Ramon, San Antonio Burbank; Luis Garcia, PSJA North; Luis Aguirre, PSJA North; Victor Bravo, Donna High; Jorge Salinas, Donna High; Erick Arellano, Los Fresnos; Andy Garza, Corpus Christi King; Anson Belcher, Corpus Christi Ray.
Non-District
IDEA Frontier at Alamo IDEA, not reported