BY NATHANIEL MATA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Valley View boys soccer has its eyes fixated on another run to the UIL State tournament, but the five games on the road to Georgetown do not come easy. The Tigers have learned that the hard way in the past.
With Mario De Los Santos returning to the lineup, Valley View powered past Roma 8-1 Saturday at Richard Thompson Stadium in Mission.
De Los Santos, a senior, netted a hat trick while dazzling in front of the net on two of his tallies.
“First of all I want to say I thank God for the opportunity to come back and continue playing with my team,” De Los Santos said through a translator. “I was glad to be able to contribute to my team with the three goals.”
Valley View’s didn’t come right away. In fact, it was Roma who almost took the lead. Gladiators goalie Brandon Duarte-Garza put in a stellar performance in the first half to reject shots from De Los Santos and his fellow forwards.
Rogelio Saldivar was another Tigers player who had a near chance taken away by a diving kick save by Duarte-Garza. The Gladiator counterattack nearly struck gold with 19:45 to play when Miguel Delgado was in alone on Valley View keeper Diego Cuellar.
The Tigers’ keeper was able to keep pace with his counterpart across the pitch and keep the game scoreless.
Last season’s Monitor All-Area Player of the Year, De Los Santos, explained his team’s mentality.
“Our team has a saying this year ‘Cool heads and hot feet’” De Los Santos said. “We were able to do that, keep our composure and keep playing.”
With 8:36 to play, it was the senior getting his group of the board first. After the first goal, the floodgates opened and the field seemed to slant in favor of the Valley View offense for the remainder of the match.
Jorge Amaya scored next after a fine through pass from Christopher Flores. Just 30 seconds later it was Pablo Torre who curved a shot from mid-range past Duarte-Garza.
“I knew that once the first goal came in No. 2 and No. 3 were going to come in soon after,” Valley View coach Damian Magallan said through a translator. “Once they scored that first goal, the momentum started changing.”
Alejandro Andrade disrupted any hopes for a Valley View shutout by getting on the end of an indirect free-kick that he tapped home past Cuellar.
After that, the good times continued for the 32-5A district champions with two more goals from De Los Santos, including a dribbling play where he stole a ball and juked defenders and the keeper before scoring into the vacant net.
“Here in the playoffs, the past records in the district, nobody cares about that,” Amaya said. “We know it’s going to be head-to-head a game to the death. We know that one mistake can cost us the game. Luckily our goalkeeper was focused in the first half, he woke us up from there.”
Christopher Flores found the net twice and Bryan Obregon scored the team’s eighth and final. Amaya finished with a pair of assists.
In the clear?
Questions about Mario De Los Santos’ eligibility have surrounded the Tigers all season. The senior competed in games during the non-district season but was held out for a majority of the district campaign.
Valley View applied for a fifth-year eligibility waiver for the student. According to athletic Director Julio Martinez, that waiver was approved by the UIL on March 6, but the games De Los Santos did compete in were forfeited.
“Mario came to us in 2016 in April and that year counted,” Martinez said. “When I went back and saw that in the paper I immediately sat him down. It’s a process from UIL where you apply for that waiver. By the time we submitted it, district had started. One this is forfeiting the other games and the other is forfeiting the district championship or playoff run.”
With De Los Santos, who scored 70 goals in 2018 en route to the state semis, back in the fold the Tigers will aim to at least return to the same stage as last season.
“They granted it and it’s probably the best thing that’s happened to us,” Martinez said. “To be honest with you it hurt him but I’m not going to jeopardize the team and I’m not going to jeopardize my job. Because we need to do things right.”
Valley View will face Laredo Martin in the area round on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at La Joya ISD Stadium.