By ROY HESS | The Brownsville Herald
PROGRESO — The St. Joseph Academy soccer team always seems to have a strong showing in the Progreso Tournament, particularly in recent years.
The Bloodhounds won the event last year and finished as the runner-up in 2016.
Their participation in 2018 as the defending champions of the three-day, 12-team tournament was no exception.
SJA gave another strong showing in Saturday’s championship match against Boerne High, even though the Bloodhounds came out on the short end of a 1-0 score to finish with the runner-up trophy.
“We’re very appreciative that Progreso organized this tournament and allowed us to play in it,” SJA coach Edgar Tovar said. “It was three days with a lot of soccer and we’re very pleased about that. Our players put in a lot of effort and desire to reach the final. We faced a very good team for the championship and it was a tough game.
“We’re definitely improving,” Tovar added. “Our objective is clear. We want to play better in every game. We feel more confident in each match and we enjoyed playing in the final today. We thank Progreso for having this tournament.”
The title match, played with 30-minute halves, was tied 0-0 and appeared to be heading to penalty kicks until Boerne High’s Tyler Hudson sent a crossing shot from the left side into the right corner of the net with 13 minutes remaining. Hudson’s tally provided the Greyhounds with the only goal they needed to win.
Boerne High coach Martin Codino said his team has enjoyed playing in the Progreso Tournament now for two seasons.
“Coming to this tournament is important to us because we love to play Progreso,” Codino said. “We know the regional tournament (and the route to state from Region IV-4A) goes through Progreso (a UIL state tournament qualifier the past two seasons).
“(Progreso) Coach (Margarito) Jimenez and I are good friends,” Codino added. “To be honest, we think it’s going to be us or them going through (and making it to state), so we enjoy playing these guys. Progreso plays in our tournament, and two weeks later, we play in theirs. We love the way they play.”
Four teams qualified for Saturday morning’s semifinals after pool play on Thursday and Friday.
The Greyhounds edged Progreso 1-0 in one semifinal, while SJA won 4-2 in the other semifinal against Hidalgo as Jose Luis Almazan netted three goals and Miguel Guerra added one for the Bloodhounds.
In Saturday’s third-place game against Hidalgo, Progreso led 3-0 at halftime and eventually won 5-1. Scoring goals for the Red Ants were Nico Lopez, Eduardo Bahena, Matthew Perez, Fabricio Gonzalez and Adrian Mendoza.
“We’re just a week away from the start of District (32-4A), and this type of competition in our tournament really prepares us for it,” Progreso coach Margarito Jimenez said. “We’re ready to play (in district), and hopefully this year will be a chance for us to do something special again (and make it back to state).”
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess