By ROY HESS | Staff Writer
The Brownsville Veterans Memorial Chargers are looking pretty unstoppable just three weeks into the 2019 soccer season.
They’ve won practically all of their non-district games so far, including two at this week’s inaugural South Texas Futbol Showcase.
On Friday, the Chargers built an 8-0 first-half advantage and cruised to a 15-1 triumph against PSJA High at Rivera.
The three-day, 18-team tournament/showcase ends today with matches beginning at 10 a.m. at Rivera, Hanna and Los Fresnos’ Leo Aguilar Memorial Stadium. There will be three full 80-minute games at each site. Also today, teams are scheduled to practice penalty kicks after each game, regardless of the score in regulation.
There will be no championship game.
For the Chargers, an ultra-challenging part of their schedule is just ahead Jan. 25, when they start District 32-5A competition.
Brownsville Veterans has a number of players remaining on its roster from the Chargers’ teams that advanced to the Class 5A regional final during each of the past two seasons, so expectations are again high.
A big highlight thus far for the Chargers was a 1-0 victory on Jan. 11 against 2018 state finalist San Antonio Reagan, which is ranked No. 4 in Class 6A by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches. The win against Reagan came during last week’s 37th annual Brownsville ISD Tournament/Showcase.
The Chargers went 3-0 at the BISD Tournament and are 2-0 at the Futbol Showcase following a 5-1 triumph over McAllen High on Thursday and the decisive win against PSJA High on Friday. The Chargers culminate Futbol Showcase play with today’s 10 a.m. match at Los Fresnos against the Falcons.
There would appear to be very few things to dislike about the Chargers’ game at this point of the season.
Yet, coaches are seldom completely satisfied with their team’s performances, and Alberto Vasquez had something to say about his Brownsville Veterans squad, even though it won so handily.
“I hated seeing us give up that (second-half) goal, I really did,” Vasquez said. “I’d rather see us win 4-0 than give up a goal. A mistake like that is something we just can’t afford to make in district. Games in district will be decided by one mistake, so we have to learn from things like that.”
Nine players scored for the Chargers against the Bears.
Leading the way was Mark Boswell with three goals. Scoring two goals apiece were Albert Maradiaga, Aksel Cabrera, Jose Muniz and Javier Ballesteros. Adding solo tallies were Felipe Esquivel, Jose Balboa, Rey Gonzalez and Cesar Cepeda.
“Honestly, we weren’t trying to score as many goals as possible,” Vasquez said. “We’re trying to implement our style of play and do it as efficiently as possible. We want ball movement and people making runs into open spaces. Fortunately, the spaces were there for us to take advantage of, so the players were doing what we’ve been practicing.
“We have players who are still trying to prove themselves as far as how they can contribute to the team,” Vasquez added. “It’s real difficult for us to tell them to not do what we’re supposed to be doing. I think it’s up to the other coach to try to adjust (defensively) and neutralize us. We’re just trying to play.
“For example, McHi played us with more or less 10 guys back (on defense Thursday). They gave us the first 50 yards. It’s something we try to learn from. If we have no one lined up against us defensively (for a good portion of the field), we have to try to learn from it and play a formation that will work against an opponent that plays us that way. We need to do our job (and try to win).”
Other games Friday at Rivera included the Raiders tying McHi 1-1 and Pace defeating Jubilee Brownsville 4-0.
At Hanna, it was Hanna over Edinburg Economedes 3-1, Porter shutting out Edinburg North 2-0 and Harlingen South edging Edinburg Vela 1-0.
At Los Fresnos, it was Laredo United over San Benito 2-0, Lopez over La Joya High 2-0 and La Joya Juarez-Lincoln over Los Fresnos 2-1.