By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
It’s probably safe to say that no one team appears likely to pull too far away from the others in the District 32-6A boys soccer race in 2018.
The 32-6A race began last Friday, and just two games into district, only one boys team is 2-0, and that is Rivera. All the others are 1-1, except for 0-2 Harlingen South. The six teams at 1-1 are Hanna, Los Fresnos, Harlingen High, San Benito, Weslaco High and Weslaco East.
Under the district’s point system, which is what will determine playoff qualifiers, Rivera has five points, Hanna has four, and all the others have three except for South with zero.
“It’s going to be a good (close) district race the whole way,” Hanna coach Reyes Prado said after his team’s 4-1 win against Weslaco High on Tuesday. “It’s going to go right down to the end. As far as places in the playoffs are concerned, who knows? That’s the kind of race it’s going to be.”
Rivera started off 32-6A action with a 3-2 win on penalty kicks against Hanna last Friday before routing Harlingen High 6-0 on Tuesday.
While Rivera coach Salvador Garcia sees plenty of promise with his team, he’s very much aware of the parity that exists in 32-6A this season.
“Thank God for the 2-0 start,” he said. “But I have to admit that we got a little lucky in both games. Believe it or not, we are playing very inconsistently in our system. If you are a new player (for us), it’s going to take time and mistakes to learn the responsibilities of each position. But I feel that with every game the players are adapting very well to the system.”
One of the key players with varsity experience for the Raiders is senior midfielder Julian Espinoza, who already has 16 goals on the season. Even though Espinoza missed some significant time last year with an injury, he was named overall MVP in 32-6A as a junior, so he’s a valuable player to have in the lineup.
“It’s no secret that Julian is not 100 percent due to the injuries he suffered during the preseason (and last year), but he has been scoring for us, which is always a good sign for an offensive player,” Garcia said.
The Raiders will try to improve to 3-0 against San Benito at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Sams Memorial Stadium.
KRYSSIE WATCH
Pace’s Kryssie Rivera, a senior forward, is close to scoring 100 goals over her four-year career for the Lady Vikings. She had one goal Tuesday during Pace’s 4-0 win at home against Porter to bring her career total to 98.
Teammate Alexis Guajardo had a hat trick to highlight the scoring against the Cowgirls.
The Pace girls are 2-0 in District 32-5A, and one of the best things that can be said about the Lady Vikings this season is they don’t have to rely exclusively on Rivera for goals. She has talented teammates all around her to give Pace hopes of a season to remember.
The Pace girls enjoyed their all-time best season in 2017 when they advanced three rounds in the playoffs for the first time. They want to equal or better that showing in 2018.
Rivera’s next chance to reach 100 goals comes at home at 5:30 p.m. Friday when the Lady Vikings play Mercedes.
32-6A GIRLS UPDATE
The 32-6A girls race appears it will be every bit as close as the race for the 32-6A boys.
After two games, Harlingen South is the only undefeated team at 2-0 with six points. Behind the Lady Hawks are Hanna (1-1, four points), Los Fresnos (1-1, three points), Harlingen High (1-1, three points), San Benito (1-1, three points), Weslaco High (1-1, three points), Rivera (1-1, two points) and Weslaco East (0-2, zero points).
“I think it’s going to be a very close race,” Hanna girls coach Eliseo Guzman said after his team’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Weslaco High on Tuesday. “All the teams seem to be pretty tough. We haven’t seen the Harlingen schools yet, but I think it’s going to be a pretty close race.”
In one of the key matchups at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Hanna plays South at Harlingen’s Boggus Stadium. The 32-6A doubleheader begins at 5:30 p.m. with the boys teams from the two schools playing each other.
Roy Hess covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @HessRgehess