By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
Honors and recognition in soccer continue to come Alexis Armendariz’s way following the Porter Cowboys’ 2016 state championship season.
Armendariz, who just completed his junior season as a standout forward for the Cowboys, was selected All-Valley player of the year last week and was named a nominee for Gatorade Player of the Year in Texas, an award won last year by Rivera’s Isidro “Chelin” Martinez.
Even though Armendariz wasn’t able to win the 2016 Gatorade award, there was a measure of consolation. The Cowboys defeated Frisco Wakeland’s Harris Partain, the Gatorade winner, in the Class 5A final in April at the UIL state tournament in Georgetown. Partain, a Frisco Wakeland midfielder who finished his senior season, and his teammates came up on the short end of a 3-2 score in the state final after Porter prevailed 10-9 in penalty kicks for the 5A championship.
“I was a little nervous (at the All-Valley awards ceremony In McAllen June 14) because I didn’t know if the (Valley player of the year) award was for me or not,” said Armendariz, who led the Cowboys with 31 goals and 17 assists during the season just completed. “I never thought I’d have these accomplishments in my life. Everything that has happened to me (with these awards and recognition) as a person and as a soccer player is a blessing to me and I thank God.
“Being nominated for the Gatorade award means a lot because it means being recognized as one of the top players in Texas,” he added. “It’s a privilege to be nominated for it. It’s really due to the efforts of the team and I’m grateful to my teammates for helping me receive such a nomination. It’s because of my teammates and my coaches.”
Porter finished 28-0-1 this past season and won seven games in the playoffs to capture the 5A state title, its second in school history in soccer.
Armendariz recently was named MVP in District 32-5A and MVP on The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro Team.
“It’s rewarding to see all the accolades that Alexis has been receiving,” said Porter coach Jose Espita, who was named All-Valley 6A coach of the year at the recent awards banquet. “Of course, a lot of it is thanks to his teammates. Doing well (in soccer) takes a team effort. Midway through the season we noticed that he was scoring a lot of goals, so we decided to move him up front (from midfielder to forward). Looking back, we can only imagine what it would have been like to start him off as a forward (and consider how many more goals he would have scored).
“Alexis deserves every one of these awards,” added Espitia, who has six starters returning from the lineup that started in the state final. “We’re excited for the coming school year. We know it’s not (only) going to give us more pressure, but actually more responsibility to come back even stronger in 2017. We feel we have a pretty solid group coming back. We expect to have a target on our backs and Alexis knows he will, too, but that’s OK.”
Armendariz said he is enjoying the summer, which involves taking a vacation to Florida, being with his family and playing in a Brasa league at Brownsville Sports Park.
“Receiving these things (awards) makes me look forward to the coming school year,” Armendariz said. “We want to do well and finish at a high level again. Winning a state title is something beautiful and we’re going to fight hard for it again.”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess