By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Conference play starts Friday for boys and girls soccer teams in Districts 32-6A and 32-5A.
Through non-district and tournament action so far this month, unlike in years past, no one team has emerged as a clear favorite in either district for boys and girls, so it should be quite interesting.
All the Brownsville-area teams seem to welcome the arrival of district competition, while most, if not all of them, appear to be works in progress that are striving for improvement and focused upon getting their injured players healthy.
The Rivera girls advanced three rounds in the playoffs a year ago. They anticipate another strong showing this season, although they’ve had a somewhat slow start in 2018. The Lady Raiders are coming off Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to McAllen Memorial, a team that had beaten them 7-0 earlier this season. Ashley Torres scored Rivera’s goal Tuesday.
“We played really well and played with passion against Memorial,” Lady Raiders coach Peter A. Rodriguez said. “We still have players returning from minor injuries. I think the close game helped the girls get some confidence for district.
“Considering the Memorial girls were outright champs at the BISD Tournament, our girls are more than ready to have a better start in 32-6A than last season,” he added. “We can only improve as each game goes by.”
Both 32-6A and 32-5A will feature varsity doubleheaders this year. In 32-6A, the boys play first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the girls at 7:30 p.m. In 32-5A, the girls play first at 5:30 p.m. followed by the boys at 7:30 p.m.
Artificial turf is being installed at the Hanna and Rivera fields, while the field at Brownsville Veterans Memorial has been deemed unusable for varsity play. As a result, the artificial turf fields at Porter, Lopez and Sams Memorial Stadium figure to be used frequently.
Friday’s doubleheaders in 32-6A have Hanna vs. Rivera at Sams, Los Fresnos at San Benito, Harlingen High vs. Harlingen South at Boggus Stadium and Weslaco High vs. Weslaco East at Bobby Lackey Stadium.
The 32-5A schedule of doubleheaders on Friday has Lopez at Porter, Brownsville Veterans vs. Pace at Lopez, Edcouch-Elsa at Donna North and Mercedes at Donna High.
Pace’s boys and girls will be playing home games on the natural turf field at Pace. The Pace boys won there 1-0 against San Benito on Tuesday.
“It should be a good matchup between Brownsville schools on Friday,” Pace boys coach Mario A. Zamora said about going against Brownsville Veterans.
“Obviously, Veterans won the BISD Tournament and last year they won district, so they have a very good team. It should be a good game. My team is ready to compete against them.
“It should be a good show,” he added. “I’m excited about my fourth season (coaching the Vikings). My son is eight months old and I’m excited to have him in the crowd (to support us).”
The Pace girls tuned up for district with a 9-0 win Tuesday against Mission High, also at Pace. Kryssie Rivera scored six of the goals and is closing in on 100 for her four-year Pace career.
“Our focus since last week has practically been (all) on offense, centering passes and scoring goals,” Lady Vikings coach Jesus O. Villarreal said. “Our girls are very focused. I think the most important thing is they’re hungry (to do well).
“We’re taking things (in district) very seriously,” Villarreal added. “Every week we’re (just) going to focus on the game we have on Tuesday and then on the one we have on Friday. Brownsville Veterans is one of the city’s teams. Regardless of the weather, any time we play a Brownsville team, it’s going to be an awesome game.”
PROGRESO TOURNAMENT
Last week there was a girls tournament in Progreso. This week, starting today, Progreso is the host of a 12-team, three-day tournament.
Besides Progreso, the teams include Port Isabel, Brownsville IDEA Frontier, St. Joseph Academy, Rio Hondo, La Feria, Monte Alto, Grulla, Hidalgo, Edinburg IDEA Quest, Zapata and Boerne High.
The championship match is scheduled for noon on Saturday.
WHO’S NO. 1?
Through tournament and non-district play over the past three weeks, several teams have emerged as among the best in the Valley.
For the girls, McAllen High appears to be the Valley’s clear choice as No. 1. Sharyland Pioneer, Sharyland High and McAllen Memorial appear to be strong as well.
For the boys, Valley View is a candidate for No. 1. The Tigers haven’t played in any Valley tournaments, but have done well and won competitive tournaments out of the Valley. La Joya Juarez-Lincoln won the “La Copa Frontera” Tournament last weekend and took second in the BISD Tournament the weekend before that, so the Huskies are looking pretty good as well.
All the teams is Brownsville are looking good, and as always, at least one or more of them should eventually emerge as strong contenders for a berth at state.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess