ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Hanna Golden Eagles have experienced their share of ups and downs to this point of the soccer season.
They finished third in District 32-6A with a 5-5 record and 16 points.
The postseason offers them a fresh start in the Class 6A state playoffs, and Hanna coach Reyes Prado said the team wants to take full advantage of that chance.
The Eagles are scheduled to play their bi-district match at 7 p.m. today at Edinburg High against the District 31-6A second-place Bobcats.
“Our chances are just as good as anybody that is still playing at this point,” Prado said. “Edinburg High is an extremely well-coached team.
“With that said, we have to be disciplined and keep our composure,” he added. “We must play with patience and must be ready for whatever is coming our way, and we must establish our style. We’ll depend on team effort and discipline.”
The Eagles are annually a playoff qualifier. Last season they advanced three rounds in the postseason as the runner-up finisher in 32-6A.
This season the Eagles are led by team captains Hector Quintero, Miguel Payan and Zebastian Gonzalez.
The winner of the Hanna-Edinburg High match goes against La Joya Juarez-Lincoln or Laredo United South next week during the second round of the playoffs.
RETURN OF THE RAIDERS
Just like Hanna, the Rivera Raiders are no strangers to the soccer playoffs. Counting 2019, they’ve advanced to the postseason 27 times out of 28 seasons, missing only in 2009.
This time, the playoffs begin for the 32-6A champion Raiders at 7 p.m. Friday at Edinburg’s Richard Flores Stadium with a bi-district match against the 31-6A fourth-place Edinburg North Cougars.
As Rivera’s 32-6A schedule drew to a close, Raiders coach Salvador Garcia warned his team that it could ill afford to not play together and must play with discipline.
“If we don’t play the way we know how to play, we’re going to go home after one or two rounds of the playoffs,” Garcia said. “We can’t be walking, we can’t be playing without communicating and we can’t be playing without discipline.
“We have to be prepared for the playoffs,” he added. “As a coach, you get disappointed sometimes because you want the team to play better. We’ve told the team since the beginning of the season, ‘It doesn’t matter what others believe about this team, it matters what you guys believe you can do.’
“Maybe we (as coaches) ask too much of these guys, but we’ve seen how they can play and we know they can do it. I’ve told them if they play with discipline, they can beat anybody. If they don’t play with discipline, anybody can beat us.”
The winner of the Rivera-Edinburg North game advances to face Laredo LBJ or McAllen Memorial next week.
ANOTHER PLAYOFF PARTY
There’s usually a strong representation of Brownsville-area teams in the UIL soccer playoffs.
Metro-area boys teams reaching the postseason this year include Rivera, Hanna, Veterans Memorial, Porter, Pace, Port Isabel and IDEA Frontier. The St. Joseph Academy boys were in the TAPPS playoffs last month.
Metro-area girls squads in the postseason are Los Fresnos, Hanna, Pace, Lopez, Porter, Port Isabel and Jubilee Brownsville.
The bi-district playoffs in all three UIL classes start today and run through Saturday.
REGIONAL RETURN
The Region VI-6A Tournament is returning to Brownsville Sports Park April 12-13 and will be played there in 2020 as well.
Teams in the 6A playoffs must win three times to advance to the regional tournament.
The Valley has never failed to advance a boys team to the state tournament in Georgetown from a regional tournament played at BSP.
Past teams going to state from the regional tournament at BSP were Porter (2011), Sharyland High (2012), Rivera (2015) and Lopez (2016). Sharyland High and Rivera went on to win state championships.
Also, the Region IV-4A Tournament will be played again in McAllen April 12-13.